Taylor Swift Tour prompts economists to upgrade Singapore GDP forecast

Fans of US singer Taylor Swift, also known as Swifties, line up to buy merchandise before the pop star's Eras Tour concert at the National Stadium in Singapore on March 7, 2024. - AFP

SINGAPORE (Bloomberg): Economists upgraded the first-quarter growth forecast for Singapore’s economy, with some attributing the gains in part to Taylor Swift’s Eras tour concerts.

Gross domestic product probably expanded 2.9% in the three months ending March 31, the quickest pace in six quarters, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

They also raised the annual growth expectation to 2.5% from 2.3% seen previously - toward the upper end of the government’s 1%-3% forecast for 2024.

The Singapore leg of the Eras tour involves the singer performing six concerts through March 9. That carries benefits to Singapore’s hospitality, food & beverage, and retail activities, according to DBS Bank Ltd. Economist Han Teng Chua.

"These would be mainly supported by higher foreign tourist spending, with a large number of overseas fans attending the Singapore concerts,” said Chua, who estimates the shows to add around S$300 million-S$400 million, or 0.2 percentage points of GDP, to the city-state’s economy in the first quarter.

Still, the outlook remains fragile for the trade-reliant economy, amid tight global interest rates, China’s uneven recovery and lingering geopolitical risks.

"We expect renewed weakness in the first half as slower global growth curtails activity in Singapore’s export-oriented economy,” said Shivaan Tandon, economist at Capital Economics. "But growth should pick up more sustainably from the second half of the year.”

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