Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang said Friday that he expected the country's economy to meet the government's growth forecast of 4 percent to 6 percent for the year.

According to Channel NewsAsia report, Lim said that the city state's economy is expected to grow stronger in the first half of this year than in the second half when the global economic growth is forecast to slow down.

However, Lim estimated that the growth in the second half of 2006 will not be "much slower" as the current low unemployment rate, strong job creation, good performance of the retail sector, as well as the upbeat domestic mood, will continue to be the growth momentum to local economy.

He added that the appreciation of the Singapore dollars in recent months reflects the strength of the economy.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city state's central bank, announced last week that it will maintain the current policy of a modest and gradual appreciation of the Singapore dollar, which was assessed to be appropriate for containing any rise in inflationary pressures.

Singapore's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 6.4 percent in 2005 over the previous year, and the economy is estimated to have grown by 9.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2006.

Source: Xinhua