Taylor Swift buoys Singapore GDP to 2.7% Q1 growth

SINGAPORE -- Singapore on Thursday reported year-on-year growth of 2.7% for the first quarter of this year, with the figure coming in exactly as forecast thanks to a hot tourism sector ignited by American pop star Taylor Swift's concerts in the city-state.

The latest growth spurt topped the 2.2% expansion in the final quarter of last year, with official data showing that the Southeast Asian financial hub's services-producing industries grew 3.9% on the year from January through March, up from 2% the previous quarter.