The turn around in the Singapore economy is nothing short of remarkeable.It is reported today that nearly 25,000 new jobs have been created in the second quarter and currently there is a 73% increase in job vacancies.
This means that for the first half of the year in excess of 61,000 new jobs have been created against a loss of 14,000 in the previous year.
What is less clear from the published statistics is the breakdown of citizens vs PR's vs those on work visas?
The true test of success must surely be the growth of employment for the local citizenry as opposed to those who are transients in the labour market.
It is equally true that there will shortly be a general election in Singapore and so the good news stories are being pumped out.
Inflation in Singapore is at 3% which means that most can cope with the adjustment. However we found there was often little apparent reason for the weekly increases in supermarket consumables.
Meanwhile in New Zealand inflation is tipped to reach 5% once the increased GST comes into force at the end of this month.
The NZ economy has received a further knock back with the recent Christchurch earthquake with most economists predicating that the quake will cut 0.8 percentage point from growth for this quarter.
Those Singaporeans (and there are a few) who snipe away at their country's performance would do well to consider that the grass is not always greener elsewhere.
The government is very 'hands on' which may not always appreciated, but it is the outcome that needs to be measured, not the emotions.
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