Singapore population grows at slowest pace in 10 years.


Zenten

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Quote the Straits Times - Population hits 5.47 million with fewer foreigners being hired. :bsmilie:
 

Quote the Straits Times - Population hits 5.47 million with fewer foreigners being hired. :bsmilie:

You forgot to quote the part about poorer economic performance due to tighter labour.
 

You forgot to quote the part about poorer economic performance due to tighter labour.


It's a pretext for something big to come. That's why it is on the headlines. :)
 

It's a pretext for something big to come. That's why it is on the headlines. :)

Someone says something big is coming? :)

The-Invaders-landing-on-Earth-01.jpg
 

It's a pretext for something big to come. That's why it is on the headlines. :)

There is nothing big coming. Sg is simply in a fix now because of several serious mistakes from the past decade.

The lax immigration policy has resulted in a massive low quality workforce with fake/low quality degrees, exaggerated resumes, etc. Productivity growth for the past two years have been negative. Companies, smes in particular, are hooked on the drug of cheap labour.

The bloated population has resulted in high costs and inflation.

Asset enhancement policy made matters worse. Savings have been eroded by sky-high property prices. The garmen realize retiring comfortably and owning a house is increasingly mutually exclusive, hence the lease buyback scheme. Debt-GDP ratio was even worse than the US. Banks suddenly had to give 3% interest rates.

Now garmen realize the mistake but still don't want to admit. They are trying to backpedal and force companies to shift away from labour-intensive methods. They do this by restricting FTs or raising their costs. But companies are hooked and are crying out in pain. There has been alot of shut downs these past few years. Now also there are cooling measures to provide a soft landing for the property bubble for the sake of the financial sector.

The casinos that was a big hoo-haa in its heyday will face increasing competition from new ones mushrooming around the region. Sg's casinos opened in 2010 and growth has since flatlined. Because casino/shopping is easily replicated, neighbouring countries can copy and catch up very fast.

So right now Sg is paying for the mistakes from the past decade.
In the meantime we make new mistakes for this decade, for example discouraging people from getting degrees.
 

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Read any statistics with a pinch of salt.

If it is true, then it is a bad news to many companies and Singaporeans.
 

"More firms are likely to shut down or downsize as foreign manpower curbs continue, said employers and economists. This is because productivity has not grown fast enough to make up for the labour crunch."

"The last time it grew this slowly was back in the third quarter of 2009, during the global financial crisis, when expansion was just 700 in three months."

"The experts said the authorities tightened foreign worker hiring policies with the aim of forcing firms to work more efficiently. But the reverse has happened in some companies. Singapore Business Federation's chief operating officer Victor Tay said a lack of workers has pushed some firms to focus on day-to-day operations instead of planning ahead to raise productivity."

"Curbs on the renewal of Employment Passes are also curtailing productivity gains, said Mr Victor Mills, chief executive of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce."
- ST, Sept 2014

"SINGAPORE - Companies here may have to lay off workers to cope with cost pressures as they respond to what they say is a Budget that is more focused on the long term than addressing their immediate concerns.

While business leaders whom BT spoke to commended the government for doing more to encourage productivity and innovation, they felt that the absence of direct measures to help firms with cost and cash flow issues meant that they might need to try to do more with less by cutting their headcount."
- BT, Feb 2014

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has strongly refuted economists who have warned in recent weeks that the ongoing restructuring of Singapore's economy is not working and needs to be put on hold. MTI said these economists were being "too hasty" in making this claim based on gross domestic product (GDP) growth figures from just one quarter - namely the second quarter - which came in worse than expected.
- ST, Aug 2014

"Singapore’s economy unexpectedly contracted in the second quarter as higher labor costs and company moves to shift production overseas hurt manufacturing."

"“Economic activity is losing steam despite a healthier global backdrop,” Chua Hak Bin, a Singapore-based economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, wrote in a note after the GDP report. “Restructuring appears to be failing. Growth is being impeded by tight labor constraints even as global demand recovers.” "

"“Some pockets of the manufacturing sector are already relocating,” said Irvin Seah, an economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore. “The manufacturing sector is facing tremendous pressure from the restructuring.” "

"About 25 percent of U.S. companies plan to move operations out of Singapore, rising from 12 percent last year, the Singapore Business Review reported in February, citing the 2013 Manpower Survey Results of the American Chamber of Commerce."
- Bloomberg, Jul 2014

"Debt levels higher than the US pre financial crisis. Singapore and other Asian countries could be facing an economic crisis of the same type as the US financial meltdown that put the world’s economies to its knees. Singapore and many Southeast Asian countries have already surpassed US debt-to-GDP ratio. There is no sign of that debt growth slowing down. This is eerily similar to the financial conditions that pre-dated the American collapse, and economists are deeply concerned."
- SBR, Jul 2014

Ho ho ho, can't wait to see what happens when interest rate goes up. :bsmilie:
When households are tied up with loans and can't spend, the economy will go down. :bsmilie:

Then we'll see if sg garmen are desperate enough to start the drugs again.
 

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