GIC's Chief: Americans Too Gloomy on Economy
Author: Dennis K. Berman</br></br>NEW YORK--The head of Government of Singapore Investment Corp., one of the world's most active sovereign-wealth funds, said Americans are being too hard on themselves and have failed to recognize the resilience of the U.S. economy.</br></br>In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, GIC Executive Director Tony Tan Keng Yam said negative sentiment is a "problem when I talk to Americans. They don't see the potential in their own economy, which is one of the most innovative, open economies in the world. Foreigners seem more optimistic."</br></br>Dr. Tan, trained as a physicist and mathematician, said he expected that the U.S. economy would grow "above trend" at a rate of between 4% and 4.5%. That would outpace the 3.3% forecast for 2011 by economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.</br></br>GIC has invested more than $100 billion of government reserves into a portfolio of stocks, commodities, bonds and private-equity stakes. More than one-third of the sovereign-wealth fund's total holdings are in the U.S., Dr. Tan said, adding that GIC would continue to invest here.