With the exception of the BSD increase for residential property transactions, Budget 2018 was positive for all business sectors. The carbon tax implementation should translate into higher capex for the corporates and support strong loans growth for domestic banks. The tax removal on the distribution of specified income by REIT ETFs is likely to be positive for the REITs sector. And, with concerns of an impending GST hike now behind us, we expect consumer sentiment to remain buoyant in 2018. We remain upbeat on Singapore's growth outlook, and continue to prefer exposure to the consumer, real estate, REITs and banking sectors.
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