Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry has raised its full-year 2024 GDP growth forecast to “around 3.5%” from a prior range of 2% to 3%.

The revision came after the latest official data showed that the Singaporean economy had expanded at an annualized rate of 5.4% in the third quarter of 2024.

The latest figure exceeded a preliminary estimate of 4.1% YoY growth, released in October. It also topped market consensus of 4.7% GDP growth.

The rate represents an acceleration from a 2.9% expansion in Q2.

In Q3, Singapore’s economic growth was mostly driven by strong performance in manufacturing, wholesale trade and finance & insurance segments.

On the other hand, consumer-oriented sectors such as retail trade and food & beverage services continued to shrink in the third quarter.

The USD/SGD currency pair settled 0.05% lower at 1.3454 on Friday.

Despite the upward GDP growth forecast revision, Singapore’s Dollar has remained pressured not far from a 19-week low of 1.3511 due to recent US Dollar strength and heightening geopolitical uncertainty.

The Singapore Dollar has lost 1.98% in value against its US counterpart so far in November, after depreciating 2.75% in October.