“Our economy has performed moderately well in 2014,” Lee said. “However, our productivity performance has been disappointing” and the country must intensify efforts to help companies and workers upgrade, he said.
Export-dependent Singapore is experiencing the effects of a faltering global economy, with China set to record its weakest growth in almost a quarter century and the economies of Europe and Japan struggling to gain momentum. Government efforts to curtail the inflow of cheap foreign labor have also pushed up business costs.