The Singapore economy experienced continuous real GDP growth from 2001 to 2007, suffered a downturn in 2008, but rebounded strongly in 2010 due to manufacturing and tourism growth. Government borrowing in Singapore is fiscally sustainable, serving mainly for investment, and the country has maintained current account surpluses since the late 1980s. In contrast, Nigeria's economy, while growing, remains smaller and more volatile compared to the U.S., with significant fluctuations influenced by global economic conditions and oil price dependence.

1. The Singapore Economy
The real GDP of Singapore showed a constant increase from
2001 to 2007. After 2008, there is a great depression in the
economy and the real GDP showed a great decrease from 2007
to 2008. There is a recover in 2010 and since then the economy
has been on a sustainable growth track. We can notice that the
growth rate of real GDP expended a lot from 2003 to 2004.
Because there was a SARs outbreak in 2003, a major turnaround
occurred in 2004 allowed it to make a significant recovery of
8% growth. Singapore’s economy, which suffered a depression
in 2009, rebounded in 2010 because of strong manufacturing
growth, booming in tourism-related sectors, bolstered by two
new casino resorts.
Singapore Government’s borrowing is fiscally sustainable.
According to the Singapore’s Central government debt level as
percentage of GDP, there is a relative constant trend from 2001
to 2012 and it reached highest peak in 2012. The debt level has
dropped some in year 2007 but since 2011 there is a big
decrease until 2013. The reason that why Singapore has such
high government debt level is that its government uses
borrowing for investing instead of spending for covering
government deficit. Government debt is issued for two main
purposes. First, marketable Singapore Government Securities
(SGS) and second, non-marketable SGS.
The equity indices of Singapore and US are quite similar from
2001 to 2008. However, the depression in year 2008 has more
influence on Singapore’s economy than United States’ economy.
In addition, the recovery of Singapore seemed to be greater and
faster than the United States. In 2009, Singapore’s equity is
more than twice higher than United States, the data provided is
percentage change.
In the graph of CPI ratio and exchange rate for Singapore and
United States, both variables of two countries move similarly
from 2001 to 2006. However, since 2006, the exchange rate

2. index contiguously decreased and increased until 2014. The
index of price ration, in the contrast, has increased relatively
constant since 2007. Such being the case, the PPP does work
from year 2001 to 2006 and it fails after 2006.
Through Singapore’s Current account curve, it is obviously that
the change is quite constant in 15 years. There is a small
increase between 2001 to 2003 and a small fluctuation between
2006 to 2010. Since 2010, the curve remains flat. Since the late
1980s, Singapore has consistently posted current account
surpluses annually, reflecting Singapore’s net earnings with
respect to the rest of the world. Singapore’s real GDP curve is
increasing constantly and it reaches its highest point in 2015 at
about 51855.08 USD.
As for the graph of US interest rate relative to the Singapore’s
interest rate, US interest rate curve much more big fluctuations.
From 2001 to 2002 there is a great increasing for Singapore’s
interest. After 2002, the interest rate begins to decrease and
never reach a high value as 2002 again.
The Singapore Economy
The real GDP of Singapore showed a constant increase from
2001 to 2007. After 2008, there is a great depression in the
economy and the real GDP showed a great decrease from 2007
to 2008. There is a recover in 2010 and since then the economy
has been on a sustainable growth track. We can notice that the
growth rate of real GDP expended a lot from 2003 to 2004.
Because there was a SARs outbreak in 2003, a major turnaround
occurred in 2004 allowed it to make a significant recovery of
8% growth. Singapore’s economy, which suffered a depression
in 2009, rebounded in 2010 because of strong manufacturing
growth, booming in tourism-related sectors, bolstered by two
new casino resorts.
Singapore Government’s borrowing is fiscally sustainable.
According to the Singapore’s Central government debt level as
percentage of GDP, there is a relative constant trend from 2001

3. to 2012 and it reached highest peak in 2012. The debt level has
dropped some in year 2007 but since 2011 there is a big
decrease until 2013. The reason that why Singapore has such
high government debt level is that its government uses
borrowing for investing instead of spending for covering
government deficit. Government debt is issued for two main
purposes. First, marketable Singapore Government Securities
(SGS) and second, non-marketable SGS.
The equity indices of Singapore and US are quite similar from
2001 to 2008. However, the depression in year 2008 has more
influence on Singapore’s economy than United States’ economy.
In addition, the recovery of Singapore seemed to be greater and
faster than the United States. In 2009, Singapore’s equity is
more than twice higher than United States, the data provided is
percentage change.
In the graph of CPI ratio and exchange rate for Singapore and
United States, both variables of two countries move similarly
from 2001 to 2006. However, since 2006, the exchange rate
index contiguously decreased and increased until 2014. The
index of price ration, in the contrast, has increased relatively
constant since 2007. Such being the case, the PPP does work
from year 2001 to 2006 and it fails after 2006.
Through Singapore’s Current account curve, it is obviously that
the change is quite constant in 15 years. There is a small
increase between 2001 to 2003 and a small fluctuation between
2006 to 2010. Since 2010, the curve remains flat. Since the late
1980s, Singapore has consistently posted current account
surpluses annually, reflecting Singapore’s net earnings with
respect to the rest of the world. Singapore’s real GDP curve is
increasing constantly and it reaches its highest point in 2015 at
about 51855.08 USD.
As for the graph of US interest rate relative to the Singapore’s
interest rate, US interest rate curve much more big fluctuations.
From 2001 to 2002 there is a great increasing for Singapore’s
interest. After 2002, the interest rate begins to decrease and
never reach a high value as 2002 again.

4. Econ 437 Paper
The Nigerian Economy
Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa and is most definitely a
growing economy.
However, based on analysis of trends over the years 2001 to
2012 Nigeria has a relatively small
and different economy when compared with the United States.
Using data extracted from the
World Development Indicators database and Global Financial
Data, graphs of Nigeria's
economy can be analyzed based on real GDP, government debt,
net exports, and equity. Both
Nigeria's general economic state and the correlation between
economic variables can be
determined based on these.
To begin, the real GDP of Nigeria showed a constant increase
from 2001 to 2012.
Increasing GDP is associated with increasing liquidity and a
growing economy for Nigeria.
Nigeria's GDP is drastically different than the US because
Nigeria has a much smaller economy

5. and is less prevalent in the Global Market. According to
Nationmaster.com, the United States
has a GDP about 60 times larger than Nigeria's, which says a lot
about the types of economic
activity they have. Nigeria's growing GDP can be associated
with the fact that the country is
working to expand and reconstruct their economy. According to
nationmaster .com, following the
financial crisis of 2008, Nigeria began efforts to develop and
grow their economy as well as
increase their GDP. This quote below details what was going on
at the time;
Since 2008 the government has begun to show the political will
to implement the market-
oriented reforms urged by the IMF, such as modernizing the
banking system, removing
subsidies, and resolving regional disputes over the distribution
of earnings from the oil
industry. GDP rose strongly in 2007-12 because of growth in
non-oil sectors and robust
global crude oil prices (NationMaster).
Econ 437 Paper

6. Next we will analyze the relationship between exchange rate
and the current account and
why it exists. Over the time period from 2001 to 2012 in
general, the current account increased
besides during the 2008 global financial crisis. The current
account decreased in the financial
crisis because there was a negative shock everywhere, leading
to a lack of exports and an overall
global recession. On the contrary, the increasing current
account over the rest of the years
influenced the exchange rate going up over the time period. One
can deduct that the naira was
experiencing depreciation because of the increasing amount of
naira it took to by 1US dollar.
When a country experiences a depreciation it means that their
currency is less valuable and thus
their goods are less expensive in terms of international trade.
Due to the competitiveness in
prices of Nigerian goods and services over this time period,
there was a current account surplus.
The government debt as a percentage of GDP for Nigeria is
another interesting variable
to review. From 2003 to 2006, Nigerian government debt as a
percentage of GDP decreased

7. sharply. This can be attributed to the fact that GDP saw a
positive jump during this time period
causing debt to be a smaller fraction of GDP. Additionally, the
decreased government debt can
be linked to the assistance that Nigeria received from the
International Monetary Fund in August
of 2000. Although Nigeria could not uphold the deal to reform
their economy with the IMF, their
debt position still was decreasing due to the $1 billion they
were given (NationMaster).
Contrarily, Nigerian government debt increased from 2008 to
2009, which is related the global
financial crisis and the borrowing that occurred to compensate
for the defaulted bank loans
experienced globally. When comparing government debt to the
exchange rate between US
dollars and Nigerian naira, it is seen that there is a connection.
The increased government debt in
2008 was paired with an increased exchange rate. This shows
that when Nigeria increased
borrowing they suffered from a lack of confidence from
investors and traders. Lack of

8. Econ 437 Paper
confidence in Nigerian financial assets led to a lack of
confidence in the currency as a whole, and
triggered a depreciation of the Nigerian naira.
Looking at the equity of the United States versus Nigeria from
the S & P Global Equity
Indices, Nigerian's equity was higher than the United States'.
This graph makes sense because
the data provided is percentage change. Due to Nigeria having a
smaller economy, changes in
equity will have a stronger impact percentage wise. In the
equity graph, both countries saw very
similar changes from 2001 to 2012. It can be noted that the US
hit their lowest equity index in
2008 but Nigeria saw theirs shortly after in 2009. This suggests
that the equity shock that hit the
United States around 2008 took about a year to fully hit
Nigerian financial markets. The main
reason why the countries experience similar shocks in their
financial sectors is because yields on
financial assets are largely dependent on the yields of United
States Financial Assets. This
relationship exists because of the fact that that people around
the world trust the United States

9. currency and this makes the United States extremely powerful
in the global financial market.
In terms of growth rate for the United States versus Nigeria, the
countries experienced
very different growth. Starting with the United States, there was
slow growth from 2001 to 2004
and then a slow decrease in growth until 2007, when the country
saw a sharp decline until 2009.
Starting in 2009, the US economy saw gradual increase in
growth moving into the subsequent
years. This reflects a period of slow recovery for the US.
Contrarily, Nigerian growth saw
gradual increase from 2001 to 2003 followed by a sharp
increase until 2004, when there was an
even sharper decline until 2005. This is a significant contraction
of the Nigerian GDP. Following
this significant shock in the GDP growth rate, Nigeria saw very
little change through 2012. In
general terms, the changes in GDP growth for Nigeria were
much larger in scale compared to the
United States, which suggests that Nigeria has been making
efforts to grow their economy. The

10. Econ 437 Paper
country has mostly focused on oil production in the past, but
according to the African
Development Bank Group Nigeria has been focusing on delving
into more diverse service areas
such as retail, real estate, information, and communication
(ADBG). Moving into the future, the
growth that Nigeria does experience can be equated to their
expansion into new industries as a
way to combat risk and uncertainty that oil prices bring to their
economic state.
For the graph of relative prices versus exchange rate for Nigeria
from 2001 to 2012, very
interesting results are being seen. In the graph, the CPI ratio
and exchange rate lines converge
slightly but then diverge over time. This divergence expresses
that purchasing power parity is not
holding over this 11-year span, and that neither prices nor
exchange rates are adjusting over time
to achieve purchasing power parity. Although this may seem
alarming, it is actually not very
descriptive of purchasing power parity because the data being
analyzed is not over a long enough
time span. Purchasing power parity is a theory that says prices

11. and exchange rates will adjust in
the long run, which would be 27 years according to the Taylor
and Taylor article on purchasing
power parity. The main reason why purchasing power parity did
not work in this eleven-year
span is because prices do not adjust that quickly and also
because exchange rates in the short run
jump too frequently due to the reactiveness of traders in the
financial markets. What is quite
surprising, however, is that the CPI ratio and exchange rate do
not look to be making any
progress towards each other in the 11years being analyzed.
While it may be normal to see some
divergence, it appears that the graphs are following a clear
pattern of moving farther away from
each other over time. This suggests that purchasing power
parity may not be achieved in the
expected 27-year time frame and that this may be something
worth investigating.
Overall, the data from the World Development Indicators and
Global Financial are very
useful in analyzing the Nigerian and United States economies
over the period from 2001 to 2012.

12. Econ 437 Paper
Based on the data, it is seen that Nigeria and the United States
have similarities and differences
in their economies throughout history. However, it can be noted
that real data does not always
follow economic models due to factors that conflict the
assumptions of those models. For
example, looking at relative prices versus exchange rates in
Nigeria proved that purchasing
power parity does not always hold. In summary, real data is
very useful because it allows
economists to evaluate economic models and their prevalence in
real world situations.
Econ 437 Paper
Works Cited
"Global Financial Data." Global Financial Data. Web. 2016.
https:Uwww-globalfinancialdata-
com.proxy.binghamton.edu/index.html
"Nigeria and United States compared: Economy stats."
NationMaster. Web. 2016.
http://www.nationmaster.com/country-

13. info/compare/Nigeria/United-States/Economy
"Nigeria Economic Outlook." African Development Bank Group
(ADBG). Web. 2016.
http:Uwww.afdb.org/en/countries/west-africa/nigeria/nigeria-
economic-outlook/
"World Development Indicators." The World Bank. Web. 2016.
http :Udatabank.worldbank.org/ data/reports
http://www.nationmaster.com/country-
info/compare/Nigeria/United-States/Economy
http://www.afdb.org/en/countries/west-africa/nigeria/nigeria-
economic-outlook/
TABLE 1Country NameSeries NameSeries
Code200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012
201320142015SingaporeGDP per capita (constant LCU)
NY.GDP.PCAP.KN43893.710313068245326.811863168948040.
378864136751973.089262777154567.624729180957572.275873
507460254.75313924858153.414186398556085.2542910149634

14. 97.758006528666047.860133557466812.462905442568812.900
965001670139.553659380370704.4008294848SingaporeGDP
growth (annual %)NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG-
0.95229006594.2116865524.43532814719.54917547657.489157
45888.86019611429.11152714761.7876202281-
0.603388298415.24037703596.20744872753.67013609494.6754
77623.26001528812.0083723452SingaporeCurrent account
balance (% of
GDP)BN.CAB.XOKA.GD.ZS13.858194293513.489678786622.8
53094256518.206858985922.079543146825.157434198726.103
806047714.574615413616.974008056823.809830312422.81665
9537818.096217598717.90640610417.469137356719.78617693
08United StatesGDP growth (annual
%)NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG0.97598183391.78612768752.806775
95653.78574284973.34521606332.66662582611.7785702397-
0.2916214587-
2.77552957422.53192061621.60145467252.22403085391.48952
494922.42779563612.4259705265SingaporeCurrent account
balance (BoP, current
US$)BN.CAB.XOKA.CD12373456269.037212402571594.25252
2167816245.898320790149654.336628133243410.90437181987
916.421946981966489.763528016182981.482832659415240.76
6656291625158.1462796243299.140352346679728.8159537708
78286.58253515725504.123757921917334.9335SingaporeS&P
Global Equity Indices (annual % change)CM.MKT.INDX.ZG-
15.4036874687-
21.606238800837.272607531214.57228230799.967186044739.8
79363941325.9710991051-
52.946435821676.749847839318.4388832648-
21.151439456728.8851496638-2.976236842-1.0634576923-
18.8619710547SingaporeCentral government debt, total (% of
GDP)GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS94.471542581107.0224789057109.
3110006284102.533918130295.257315842683.304447803877.6
88536544597.1051590482107.3365778359102.9034210393106.
3576593206109.9970401025......SingaporeConsumer price index
(2010 =

15. 100)FP.CPI.TOTL86.109598317785.772326941286.2079691359
87.641372486188.013941461488.912490166590.775335043196.
692607003997.2762645914100105.2529182879110.0194552529
112.6362571876113.7739971592113.2051271734United
StatesS&P Global Equity Indices (annual %
change)CM.MKT.INDX.ZG-13.0424558735-
23.366249231426.38003710288.9935395413.001582369413.619
20011123.5292019476-
38.48525633423.453817318912.7820791594-
0.002479528613.4056929.6012511.3906381874-
0.7266015834United StatesCentral government debt, total (% of
GDP)GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS51.993705814453.502916804855.9
6868126456.384039058256.289096325255.294184218155.6342
94645164.031777182976.315272236385.6015942490.16212604
794.374957250896.762510832397.5474421686..United
StatesConsumer price index (2010 =
100)FP.CPI.TOTL81.202568459382.490466876684.3630788186
86.621678120289.560532372192.449705082795.086992378998.
737477385398.3864199711100103.1568415686105.2915045329
106.8338488749108.566932119108.6957219607Bothratio
singapore /US
CPI1.06042949071.03978471921.02186845651.0117718150.982
73133410.96173903520.95465565550.97928982550.988716375
911.02031931851.04490343971.05431245221.04796179591.041
4865013BothIndex of price
ratio10098.053168864496.363639959395.411512391392.672953
995790.693350529790.025377819492.348414873893.23735189
7194.301413600496.217554058498.535871435599.4231546211
98.82427875398.2136493203SingaporeOfficial exchange rate
(LCU per US$, period
average)PA.NUS.FCRF1.79172251.79058833331.74218333331.
69022833331.66439751.58893333331.50710166671.414860833
31.45451471341.36350833331.25777587721.24967620371.2513
1.267051.374825United StatesOfficial exchange rate (LCU per
US$, period average)PA.NUS.FCRF111111111111111Exchange
rate

16. index10099.93669964797.235109417594.335385827592.893709
823988.681887587784.114681077478.966515927281.17968677
8476.100419196270.199256703769.747195991869.8378236585
70.716866032576.7320274205SingaporeExports of goods and
services (% of
GDP)NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS184.4794251069185.9642750193205.16
15483935216.3358315868226.079434537230.1035194924214.7
42278151230.2690193852191.8801677994199.2589986819200.
9321928631195.3858793524192.3531806968192.110395214517
6.4949634496SingaporeImports of goods and services (% of
GDP)NE.IMP.GNFS.ZS168.2698011741168.3137145804177.62
98582568189.9562438634196.2510255854200.2540932996183.
915527311209.387661758168.3505563536172.8403644236176.
3701964047171.7495760708169.2381390868167.663053979114
9.6220972126SingaporeCurrent account balance (% of
GDP)16.209623932917.650560438927.531690136726.37958772
3429.828408951629.849426192930.8267508420.881357627223.
529611445826.418634258324.561996458423.636303281623.11
50416124.447341235426.872866237
real GDP & Current account
Singapore GDP per capita (constant LCU
Singapore GDP per capita (constant LCU)
NY.GDP.PCAP.KN 2001.0 2002.0 2003.0 2004.0
2005.0 2006.0 2007.0 2008.0 2009.0 2010.0
2011.0 2012.0 2013.0 2014.0 2015.0
43893.71031306821 45326.81186316887
48040.37886413666 51973.08926277712
54567.62472918086 57572.27587350742
60254.75313924796 58153.41418639846
56085.2542910149 63497.7580065286
66047.86013355742 66812.46290544246
68812.90096500161 70139.55365938026
70704.40082948479

17. Singapore Current account balance (% of GDP)
Singapore Current account balance (% of GDP)
BN.CAB.XOKA.GD.ZS 2001.0 2002.0 2003.0
2004.0 2005.0 2006.0 2007.0 2008.0 2009.0
2010.0 2011.0 2012.0 2013.0 2014.0 2015.0
13.85819429347248 13.4896787865804
22.85309425654604 18.20685898594556
22.07954314678302 25.15743419865128
26.10380604768098 14.57461 541364746
16.97400805683419 23.80983031238071
22.81665953776252 18.09621759869356
17.90640610404232 17.46913735673769
19.78617693077702
GDP GROWTH
GDP growth rate US VS Singapore
Singapore GDP growth (annual %) NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
2001.0 2002.0 2003.0 2004.0 2005.0 2006.0
2007.0 2008.0 2009.0 2010.0 2011.0 2012.0
2013.0 2014.0 2015.0 -0.95229006592902
4.21168655203607 4.43532814708172
9.549175476457123 7.489157458818681
8.860196114231698 9.111527147562384
1.787620228084762 -0.603388298367534
15.24037703594152 6.207448727529496
3.67013609485602 4.675477619972
3.260015288050582 2.008372345195 United States
GDP growth (annual %) NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG 2001.0
2002.0 2003.0 2004.0 2005.0 2006.0 2007.0

18. 2008.0 2009.0 2010.0 2011.0 2012.0 2013.0
2014.0 2015.0 0.975981833932124
1.786127687455519 2.806775956480934
3.785742849694444 3.345216063348772
2.666625826122001 1.778570239652893 -
0.291621458693953 -2.775529574168075
2.531920616163148 1.601454672471391
2.224030853857144 1.489524949208558
2.427795636102203 2.425970526457831
Gov debt
Singapore Central government debt(% of GDP)
Singapore Central government debt, total (% of GDP)
2001.0 2002.0 2003.0 2004.0 2005.0 2006.0
2007.0 2008.0 2009.0 2010.0 2011.0 2012.0
2013.0 2014.0 2015.0 94.47154258095528
107.0224789057152 109.311000628418 102.53391813017
95.25731584258327 83.30444780377711
77.68853654454307 97.10515904822551
107.3365778359025 102.9034210393252
106.3576593206287 109.9970401024623
Equity
Equity Indices Singapore and US
Singapore S & P Global Equity Indices (annual % change)
CM.MKT.INDX.ZG 2001.0 2002.0 2003.0 2004.0
2005.0 2006.0 2007.0 2008.0 2009.0 2010.0

19. 2011.0 2012.0 2013.0 2014.0 2015.0 -
15.403687468677 -21.60623880080185
37.27260753120929 14.57228230792418
9.967186044721397 39.87936394134201
25.97109910512376 -52.94643582156275
76.7498478393183 18.43888326483556 -
21.1514394567164 28.8851496638034 -2.97623684203576 -
1.06345769231789 -18.8619710546784 United States S &
P Global Equity Indices (annual % change)
CM.MKT.INDX.ZG 2001.0 2002.0 2003.0 2004.0
2005.0 2006.0 2007.0 2008.0 2009.0 2010.0
2011.0 2012.0 2013.0 2014.0 2015 .0 -
13.0424558734511 -23.36624923135187
26.38003710277697 8.993539541034657
3.001582369361544 13.61920011124102
3.529201947556082 -38.48525633401382
23.45381731891842 12.78207915944036 -
0.00247952856932132 13.40569 29.60125
11.3906381873661 -0.726601583369757
CPI & E
CPI Ratio and Exchange rate for US and Singapore
Index of price ratio 2001.0 2002.0 2003.0 2004.0
2005.0 2006.0 2007.0 2008.0 2009.0 2010.0
2011.0 2012.0 2013.0 2014.0 2015.0 100.0
98.05316886443384 96.3636399592837
95.41151239130348 92.67295399573081
90.69335052974137 90.02537781939265
92.34841487383254 93.23735189714155
94.30141360042673 96.21755405840065
98.53587143548113 99.4231546210709
98.82427875298372 98.21364932030836 Exchange rate

20. index 2001.0 2002.0 2003.0 2004.0 2005.0
2006.0 2007.0 2008.0 2009.0 2010.0 2011.0
2012.0 2013.0 2014.0 2015.0 100.0
99.93669964703406 97.23510941752029
94.33538582751122 92.8937098239264
88.68188758768893 84.11468107738055
78.96651592717788 81.17968677843415
76.1004191962388 70.19925670370159
69.74719599177326 69.83782365851854
70.71686603254689 76.73202742054084