MM Lee: 2-3 years to recover

March 21, 2009

2-3 years to recover

Or it could take up to six years; export model is still the best, says MM

By Clarissa Oon, Senior Political Correspondent
		'Four million people to sustain industries supplying top-end goods to the world? That's rubbish.' Singapore has no choice but to export, MM Lee stressed. -- PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS

SINGAPORE will take two to three years to bounce back from the recession - and this is the optimistic scenario that assumes the United States recovers next year.

The pessimistic forecast? Five to six years, according to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, who spoke last night at the launch of an alumni complex at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

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MM Lee, who has been saying that Singapore's recovery hinges on that of the US, believes that the American economy is 'fundamentally sound'. Its big companies such as General Motors and Chrysler are 'sound' despite their requests for further government aid.

He said he was reassured by US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks last month that the economy would pick up by 2010, once the government's stimulus package frees up lending to households and businesses.

Also, the same reliance on exports that has put Singapore's economy in the doldrums means that once the world's major economies rebound, 'we are going to bounce back'.

MM Lee took issue with criticisms of Singapore's economic model, such as that from a recent Wall Street Journal editorial which said the Republic needed to refocus on the domestic consumption of goods that are now produced for export.

'Four million people to sustain industries supplying top-end goods to the world? That's rubbish.' Singapore has no choice but to export, he stressed.

What will further stand Singapore in good stead is its free trade agreements with countries such as the US, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand, he added.

With such conditions in place, 'if we don't prosper, we're stupid'.

Mr Lee made these points as he shared his thoughts on what Singapore would become in 25 years time, with some 300 alumni, students and staff of NUS.

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