Casino cash may inject us$ 1.5 billion into Singapore annually

The two resorts have already contributed us$ 345 million or 0.3 % points to gross domestic product (GDP), which grew 17.9 % in the first half of 2010 from a year earlier, DBS economist Irvin Seah wrote in a report.

"If the GDP contributions by the integrated resorts continue to rise at the same pace going forward, we can expect full-year GDP contributions of about us$ 1.5 billion from these projects," Seah said in the note. That would translate into adding 0.7 percentage points to GDP for the whole of 2010, he said.

Singapore is counting on the two resorts opened earlier this year by Malaysia's Genting and Las Vegas Sands to help fuel tourism and economic growth. It hopes to double visitor arrivals to 17 million by 2015. In July alone, at least 1 million people visited Singapore, the highest number the city-state ever saw in a month, after seven consecutive months of record monthly visitor arrivals.

"However, the contributions derived from the GDP statistics reflect only the direct impact of the IRs. The overall economic gains to the economy are likely to be significantly larger if the spinoffs to other industries are taken into account," he said.