DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 24th May 2018

Top Story

Singapore GDP up 4.4% in Q1, full-year growth forecast at 2.5-3.5%
Singapore’s GDP (gross domestic product) grew 4.4 per cent in the first three months of 2018, with full-year growth expected to come in at “2.5 to 3.5 per cent” this year, said the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Thursday. The MTI had previously expected Singapore’s 2018 growth to come in “slightly above the middle” of a forecast range of 1.5 to 3.5 per cent.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-gdp-up-44-in-q1-full-year-growth-forecast-at-25-35
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-manufacturing-continues-to-drive-growth-in-q1-services-catching-up
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-non-oil-exports-up-11-in-q1-full-year-forecast-maintained-at-1-3-growth
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-economy-grew-44-in-q1-full-year-growth-forecast-at-25-35
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/manufacturing-still-driving-singapores-growth-but-services-fast-catching-up
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-non-oil-exports-up-11-in-q1-full-year-forecast-kept-at-1-3
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-q1-2018-gdp-growth-mti-10271776
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-exports-up-1-1-in-q1-as-total-trade-expands-10272434
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/spores-gdp-growth-2018-expected-be-between-25-and-35-mti

Singapore Economy

CPF interest rates to remain unchanged for Q3 2018
Interest rates for Central Provident Fund (CPF) Ordinary, Special and Medisave Accounts will remain unchanged for the third quarter of this year. From July 1 to Sept 31, CPF members will continue to earn interest rates of up to 3.5 per cent a year on their Ordinary Account and up to 5 per cent on their Special and Medisave accounts, said the CPF Board said in a statement on Wednesday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/cpf-interest-rates-to-remain-unchanged-for-q3-2018
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/cpf-interest-rates-to-remain-unchanged-from-july-to-september-10259538

Singapore keeps 3rd spot in global ranking of competitiveness
Singapore has stayed in third place in an annual world competitiveness ranking of 63 economies topped this year by the United States, which made its first return to pole position since 2015. In the ranking by Swiss business school IMD, Hong Kong slipped to second spot from first place in 2017, despite a strong performance in government and business efficiency. It kept its lead over its long-time rival Singapore, which held on to its ranking largely because of strong government efficiency.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-keeps-3rd-spot-in-global-ranking-of-competitiveness
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/spore-stays-3rd-as-us-tops-ranking-of-competitiveness
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/singapore-maintains-3rd-position-in-world-ranking-for-10261486
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-23/u-s-beats-hong-kong-to-reclaim-global-competitiveness-crown

Singapore inflation dips in April as consumer price index inches up 0.1%
Singapore’s inflation eased last month, against expectations, due to the slower pace of price increases seen across several major categories of consumer spending. The consumer price index – the main measure of inflation – edged up 0.1 per cent in April compared with the same month last year, according to Department of Statistics data released on Wednesday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-inflation-dips-in-april-as-consumer-price-index-inches-up-01
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-consumer-prices-up-01-in-april
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-s-inflation-rate-fell-to-0-1-in-april-10260114

Singapore Real Estate

House of Tan Yeok Nee back on the market
The House of Tan Yeok Nee , a gazetted national monument at the junction of Penang Road and Clemenceau Avenue, will soon be put on the market. The price expectation is “above S$90 million” for the two-storey freehold property, the last remaining traditional Chinese courtyard house in Singapore.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/house-of-tan-yeok-nee-back-on-the-market

72-unit condo complex Balestier Regency up for sale for S$218m
Balestier Regency, a 72-unit condominium complex off Balestier Road, has been launched for collective sale by tender and is expected to fetch some S$218 million, marketer Teakhwa Real Estate said on Wednesday. This indicative price translates to a land rate of S$1,264.9 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), including a development charge of S$1.35 million. The land price will be reduced to about S$1,220.9 psf ppr, if the 10 per cent bonus balcony area is included.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/72-unit-condo-complex-balestier-regency-up-for-sale-for-s218m
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/balestier-regency-up-for-collective-sale-at-218m

Singapore is 4th most expensive city in Asia to build in
Singapore is the fourth most expensive city in Asia to build in, behind Hong Kong, Macau and Tokyo, in that order, according to a survey by global design and consultancy firm Arcadis. The Republic also ranks 27th in the world on Arcadis’s construction cost index, which looks at the relative cost of building in 50 of the world’s major cities in 2018.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-is-4th-most-expensive-city-in-asia-to-build-in
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/spore-4th-most-expensive-city-in-asia-to-build-in-poll

Companies’ Brief

ISOTeam clinches seven new contracts worth S$52.6m
ISOTeam has secured seven new contracts totalling S$52.58 million that it expects to complete between June 2018 and September 2019. The haul includes a S$46.54 million mega project split in two parts.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/isoteam-clinches-seven-new-contracts-worth-s526m
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/isoteam-secures-7-new-contracts-worth-s526m

UE forks out S$9m to build WBL stake
Three months after its minority shareholders foiled its buy-out bid, United Engineers (UE) has gone ahead to expand its equity holding in WBL by acquiring more than 4.3 million shares for S$9 million from OCBC Bank, its subsidiaries and independent third parties. UE made the announcement after trading closed on Wednesday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ue-forks-out-s9m-to-build-wbl-stake

Boustead Singapore profit and revenue fall on FX losses, oil & gas recession
Foreign exchange losses and the continued global oil and gas recession dampened mainboard-listed Boustead Singapore’s performance in FY2018, with net profit falling 24 per cent to S$25.39 million and revenue dipping 5 per cent to S$414.1 million.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/boustead-singapore-profit-and-revenue-fall-on-fx-losses-oil-gas-recession
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/forex-losses-oil-and-gas-slump-hit-bousteads-profit

CapitaLand develops Viet kindergarten with local community
A dank, dilapidated storeroom built in 1967 was used to keep fertiliser. Later on, it became a kindergarten. Sitting in the Le Xa commune of Tien Lu, a rural district 75km away from Hanoi, Vietnam, it was divided into two classrooms of 15 square metres in 2005. The “walls were rotten and the roof leaked,” says Do Thi Vui, mother of a pair of 4-year-old twins who studied there. “Whenever it rained, the room was often very wet.”
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/life-culture/capitaland-develops-viet-kindergarten-with-local-community

Yongnam JV wins S$553.8m LTA contract; part of future North-South Corridor
Yongnam Holdings’ joint venture with Leighton Asia has bagged a S$553.8 million Land Transport Authority contract for the design and construction of a part of the future North-South Corridor (NSC) project.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/yongnam-jv-wins-s5538m-lta-contract-part-of-future-north-south-corridor
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/lta-awards-s-1-16b-contracts-for-construction-of-north-south-10261314

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Affordable housing near city centre needed too
The Government must not look at just developing new towns in the outskirts like Tengah, Jurong West, Woodlands, Sembawang and Pasir Ris, but must also relook the redevelopment of old housing estates like those in South Bridge Road, North Bridge Road, Beach Roador those nearer to the Central Business District.
https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/affordable-housing-near-city-centre-needed-too

Urban living in the age of the smart city
Across the globe, cities like Singapore are investing heavily in smart city infrastructure, which is generating unprecedented amounts of data. Such information has huge potential to help governments, residents and businesses make smarter choices in areas such as urban transportation, healthcare, logistics as well as policy and planning.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/urban-living-in-the-age-of-the-smart-city