Singapore economy ''continues to see growth''

Continued growth was recorded for Singapore's economy during the first quarter of 2011.

The city state's Ministry of Trade and Industry revealed that the economy expanded by 8.5 per cent during the three-month period on a year-on-year basis.

This was compared to the 12 per cent growth recorded during the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, on a seasonally-adjusted and quarter-on-quarter annual basis, 23.5 per cent expansion was experienced within the economy - in comparison to the 3.9 per cent recorded during the previous three months.

Within the service producing industries in the city state there was also growth, with those with finance jobs in Singapore partly responsible.

This is because the figures reveal that expansion was partially driven by the fiscal sector, which witnessed a rise in commercial bank lending activities.

Speaking earlier in the month at an event organised by the Singapore Polytechnic Graduates' Guild, the city state's senior minister Goh Chok Tong predicted that real gross domestic product growth could help to generate some 50,000 jobs.