While Singapore's 2019 economic growth was in line with economists' expectations, it

is the worst showing in 10 years, 2020 even ended up in recession. Full-year gross

domestic product (GDP) in 2019 and 2020 was 1.3% and -5.4% respectively, according

to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Thursday, as predicted by a Monetary

Authority of Singapore (MAS) poll of economists released early last month.

In November 2019, MTI said it was expecting full-year 2019 GDP growth to be between

0.5 and 1%, reflecting two earlier downgrades that had at one point included

expectations of zero growth. Nonetheless, the latest figures indicate a worse

performance than 2018's GDP growth of 3.1%. It is also the slowest growth since the

global financial crisis in 2009, which saw an expansion of just 0.1% year on year.

UOB economist, Barnabas Gan, downgraded his full-year inflation estimates for 2020

by 0.2% due to the softened economic outlook. "We downgrade our full-year headline

and core inflation to 1% and 1.2%, respectively in 2020," he wrote in a note. "Economic

growth is likely to stay subdued at 0.5% for 2020". Singapore reels from economic

uncertainties, including the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak which will likely cause

unemployment across Singapore's tourism and exports sectors in the circuit breaker

months ahead. Consumer confidence will also be affected.

Source: Edited and adapted from: The Business Times, dated 3 Jan 2020 and CNA,

dated 30 Jan 2020 and 24 Feb 2020 and www.singstat.gov.sg.

1. Background and Introduction - Provide the background with regards to the case study in relation to 2 economic concepts. Circular flow and GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
2. Inference of the economic problem - Identify and relate the economic issues in the case study.
3. Economic Analysis - Provide economic analysis with selected concepts to analyse and explain the problems in the case study.

• Circular Flow
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
• Business Cycles
• Unemployment
• Price Distortion

Conclusions - Conclude the report by giving a brief summary of the main points.

Recommendations - Recommend possible solutions to manage or alleviate the issues.