Business Times Extract - 28 Jan 2006

Mr Lee, giving his Chinese New Year message yesterday, said that the economy - despite a slow start - grew strongly in the second half of 2005.

'Businesses across the board have done well. Wages increased and many workers received larger bonuses. Most importantly, we created many new jobs and brought our unemployment rate down significantly,' Mr Lee said.

And the year of the dog looks just as promising. Mr Lee said: 'The global outlook is positive: the US, China, India and Japan are all doing well . The investments we have brought in will generate more new jobs. I expect our economy to continue prospering.'

The Prime Minister added that the general feeling in the market is that things are looking up. 'Hotels and restaurants were fully booked in the festive season ,' he said. 'Retail sales have picked up as Singaporeans are in a more confident mood, and spending more than last year.'