SINGAPORE, Dec. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Singapore economists forecast the country's economy to grow by over 5 percent this year with some seeing a 5.5 percent expansion, according to Channel NewsAsia report on Wednesday.

    They also estimate that Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP)will sustain healthy growth in 2006 to surpass the government's forecast of a 3-percent to 5-percent increase.

    Economic sectors such as manufacturing, services and foreign trade is picking up momentum to ride on an upward trend, the report said.

    Other factors that are likely to affect the city state's economic growth include the economic performance of its major trading partners like China and the United States, oil prices, global interest rates, as well as a possible flu pandemic.

    Economists said that the economic growth rate would be lowered if oil prices were to rise to over 70 US dollars per barrel again while a flu pandemic would cause a "major disruption in the services sector", which accounts for 65 percent of the country's GDP.

    In November, the Singapore government raised its economic growth forecast for 2005 to around 5 percent from between 3.5 percent and 4.5 percent. Enditem