DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 18 March 2022 (Fri)

Singapore Real Estate

Fewer commercial strata units in city centre will benefit shoppers, tenants: consultants
Improved tenant mixes, curated offerings for shoppers, well-maintained malls and fewer vacant units could be in store for the Orchard Road shopping belt and retailers in the Central Business District (CBD), as a result of a new restriction on strata properties.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/fewer-commercial-strata-units-in-city-centre-will-benefit-shoppers-tenants-consultants

Singapore hotel market poised for steady rebound as border curbs ease: CBRE
A recovery in visitor arrivals to Singapore, likely to pick up further over the course of 2022, is expected to benefit hotels in the Republic as usage of the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) scheme continues to grow.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-hotel-market-poised-for-steady-rebound-as-border-curbs-ease-cbre
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-hotel-market-poised-for-steady-rebound-as-border-restrictions-ease-cbre

Singapore Economy

Singapore exports expected to stay buoyant but economists warn of headwinds
Demand for Singapore’s key exports such as electronics could stay buoyant ahead, but economists are also warning of headwinds from the Russia-Ukraine war and China’s localised lockdowns.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-exports-expected-to-stay-buoyant-but-economists-warn-of-headwinds

F&B salaries up 20% in 2 years and set to rise further
Food and beverage (F&B) operators are steeling themselves to raise pay further when minimum qualifying salaries for S Pass and Employment Pass holders kick in this September, even after border curbs and tighter quotas have driven wages up by some 20 per cent over the last 2 years.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/fb-salaries-up-20-in-2-years-and-set-to-rise-further

Companies’ Brief

CLI, Frasers Hospitality don’t see big hit to their businesses in Shenzhen
CapitaLand Investment (CLI) and Frasers Hospitality don’t expect major impact to their businesses in Shenzhen after a spike in Covid-19 cases prompted the Chinese government to implement a lockdown of China’s tech hub.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/cli-frasers-hospitality-dont-see-big-hit-to-their-businesses-in-shenzhen

Ho Bee Land divests Munich office asset, books gain of €44.8m on notes investment
Ho Bee Land on Thursday (Mar 17) announced that it had recently divested a commercial property known as Elementum located in Munich, Germany, booking an estimated gain on its notes investment of some 44.8 million euros (S$67.1 million) from the sale, according to preliminary information from Credit Suisse AG (Singapore).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ho-bee-land-divests-munich-office-asset-books-gain-of-%E2%82%AC448m-on-notes-investment

Views, Reviews, Forum and Others

Will the Fed cause a recession with its rate hikes?
The economist David Rosenberg says it’s not just possible but likely that the US economy will fall into a recession this year, partly because, he says, the Federal Reserve will go too far in raising interest rates to fight inflation, which is at a 40-year high.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/will-the-fed-cause-a-recession-with-its-rate-hikes

Update on COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Situation

Singapore’s weekly infection growth rate for Covid-19 drops to 0.73
[Singapore] The weekly infection growth rate for Covid-19 cases dipped to 0.73 on Thursday (Mar 17), down from 0.76 on Wednesday. This rate refers to the ratio of community cases for the past week over the week before. A rate of more than one means the number of new weekly Covid-19 cases is going up.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapores-weekly-infection-growth-rate-for-covid-19-drops-to-073
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/weekly-infection-growth-rate-for-covid-19-drops-to-073

Moderna booster more effective for those over 60 who took Pfizer jab: NCID
Singapore – A booster shot with the Moderna vaccine offered older people better protection against Covid-19 if they had previously taken Pfizer jabs, researchers at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) have found.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/moderna-more-effective-as-a-booster-shot-for-those-over-60-who-received-pfizer-vaccination-ncid-study

*For more information, please visit the Ministry of Health (MOH) website at www.moh.gov.sg and refer to go.gov.sg/mohupdates for updates on the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) situation