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MOF clarifies Tharman's key point
28 March 2009
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THE headline of Wednesday's article, ''Economy could bottom out soon'', may have given the impression that Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam had projected an early recovery in the Singapore economy in his speech at the 2009 Singapore Business Awards.
Mr Tharman's key point was that we had to expect a period of economic weakness for some time. The underlying problems in the world economy remain.
Global demand is unlikely to recover soon, and credit continues to tighten and act as a drag on growth. He said that while the Singapore economy should reach bottom within the next two quarters - in other words, GDP may stabilise on a quarter-on-quarter basis - we cannot expect an early recovery in growth.
CHIN SAU HO
PRESS SECRETARY TO MINISTER FOR FINANCE
MINISTRY OF FINANCE