Singapore Economy Registers 7.2% Growth In 2021, Highest In Over A Decade

Shares of U.S.-listed companies rose in Singapore on Monday after government data showed that Singapore’s economy grew 7.2% in 2021, rebounding from a pandemic-induced 5.4% contraction in the previous year.

What’s Moving: Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.2% on Monday following the release of the gross domestic product (GDP) data.

Shares of Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (OTC: ACDSF) have gained 0.7% in Singapore, while Keppel Corporation Limited (OTC: KPELY) shares have risen 0.2% and Singapore Telecommunications Limited's (OTC: SGAPY) traded 0.4% higher.

Singapore-based ride-hailing and food delivery company Grab Holdings Limited’s (NASDAQ: GRAB) trade on the Nasdaq.

What Happened: Singapore’s economy expanded by 5.9% in the fourth quarter of 2021, slower than the 7.1% growth in the July-September quarter.

The city-state emerged out of recession in the first quarter of 2021 by recording a growth of 1.5%.

Last year’s growth rate is the fastest annual pace in over a decade for Singapore.

The Singapore government has described 2022 as a “time of transition” as it expects GDP growth for the year in a range of 3% to 5%. The highly contagious Omicron variant continues to pose a threat.

“We will progressively phase out emergency support measures as businesses revive, though a few sectors will take longer,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his New Year's message.

About 87% of the population in Singapore has been fully vaccinated, while 39% have received their booster shot, it was reported by The Straits Times newspaper last week.