"Our economy grew by 3.5 percent, more than double our initial forecast," Lee said in his New Year message to the nation, adding that incomes have risen across the board. "We have benefited from the global economic upswing. But more fundamentally, our productivity has grown. Singaporeans are upgrading and learning new skills, while businesses are innovating and adopting new technology," he added.
In November, the government revised its 2017 GDP growth forecast range up to 3.0 to 3.5 percent, putting the economy on track for its fastest growth since 2014, when GDP expanded nearly 3.6 percent. The government is due to release its advance estimates for GDP in the fourth quarter and the whole of 2017 on January 2. The GDP data is expected to show that the economy lost some steam in the October-December quarter after recording its fastest year-on-year growth in nearly four years in the third quarter.