Market Matters Are upbeat economic signs pointing to a general election soon? By Jason Lee   The recent spate of positive announcements by the Government and other upbeat signs has fueled speculation that a general election is on the cards before the year comes to a close, says political pundits. It has been four years since Singaporeans went to the polls on November 3, 2001. Recent spate of positive announcements by the Government and other upbeat signs has fueled speculation that a general election is on the cards before the year comes to a close, says political pundits. In the first National Day message 2005 as Prime Minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong highlighted three key challenges besides mentioned estimate economics growth. Three challenges are: the widening income gap, an aging population and health of all Singaporeans. The estimated growth in the economy for 2005 has been revised upwards to between 3.5 and 4.5 per cent from the earlier projection. The Ministry of Trade and Industry announced on August 10 that gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5.2 per cent in the quarter. It was attributed to an expansion of biomedical output and robust performance in key services sectors such as wholesale and retail trade and financial services. Things are also looking up in the tourism sector as the number of visitors to Singapore and revenue generated from hotels this year both increased over the same period in 2004. However, the unemployment rate in the second quarter had slightly increased to 3.4 per cent. In the budget 2005 speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is also the Finance Minister included initiatives to assist Singaporeans from all walks of life. For example, taxpayers would receive a reduction in come tax; one to five-room HDB households would also receive rebates in their utilities bills. Besides, the government has recently introduced the ComCare fund, a program to assist the needy. While parliamentary election need not be called until June 2007, many political and market watchers are of the view that with the package of goodies already announced a general election sometime this year is imminent. Most analysts share a common view: In terms of timing, the window for the coming few months could be termed as the most appropriate for the ruling party, given the robust economic outlook as well as the recent government announcements. With the uncertainty over the prices of oil, and an uncertain global environment – as evident by events over the past few years (such as the September 11 terrorist attacks and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), perhaps the ‘ideal’ timing for to call for a general election is indeed before the end of the year.