Investors are moving capital toward Singapore’s top rated banks to escape global volatility and energy price shocks.

Instability in the global economy and geopolitical conflict may benefit Singapore as it uses its reputation for careful regulation, strong currency, and strong credit rating to draw wealth management business, experts said.

According to the “Singapore Briefing 2026: Globalization’s Poster Child Faces Up to a Less Global Era” report by Bloomberg Intelligence (BI), DBS Bank, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, and United Overseas Bank are expected to continue profiting from the state’s expansion as a top global wealth centre and are likely to attract more fund flows from the Middle East if the war is prolonged.

“Exchange operator Singapore Exchange (SGX)’s strategy of covering diverse assets might help it benefit more than Asian rivals from hedging demand due to financial-market volatility,” the BI report read.

Despite an expected slower growth in 2026 as exports cool and an oil-price shock due to the Middle East war affecting spending power, BI said the city-state’s ability to attract investment in sectors like biomedical and aerospace manufacturing, its status as a service-oriented economy, and policies to strengthen competitiveness are likely to maintain steady growth in the medium term.

This will support companies leveraged to Singapore’s expansion, such as power-generation and urban-development firm Sembcorp Industries.

The economy is projected to settle into a steady annual growth rate of approximately 3% between 2027 and 2030, according to BI. This projection is slower than the economy’s 5% average in 2010 to 2019 but faster than the projected mean of 2% for developed Asia-Pacific countries.

“We expect this growth to support more than 20% expansion of the Singapore Airlines Group’s seat capacity by 2035, benefiting aerospace services provider ST Engineering amongst others,” the report read.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry said the local economy grew 4.6% in the first quarter of 2026, from 4.5% in the same period in 2025. This figure moderated from the 5.7% recorded in the previous quarter.

The government noted GDP growth remained resilient in the first quarter, but cautioned the US-Israel-Iran conflict may weigh on economic output in the remaining quarters of 2026.

RHB Bank said in its 24 April report that such global uncertainty, along with fluctuations in global commodity prices and El Niño-related weather disruptions, is seen to drive the inflationary trajectory. The bank expects headline and core inflation to settle at 2.5% and 2.0% in 2026, up from its previous forecast of 1.5%.

“The relative moderation in the latest print stands in contrast to higher readings anticipated going forward, driven by several emerging cost factors,” the RHB report read.

Data from the Department of Statistics showed that core inflation rose to 1.7% in March 2026 from 1.4% in February, whilst the Consumer Price Index for all items inflation increased to 1.8% from 1.2%. This trend was associated with higher private transport, retail, and service costs.