Speaking at a panel discussion at the SME Convention on Thursday, SMU Professor of Economics Augustine Tan commented that when it comes to productivity, there is "a big disconnect between aspirations and achievements" in Singapore. He said that he was "quite astonished" by the Government's productivity growth target of 2–3 per cent per year by 2020, and opined that it's the "worst possible time to do restructuring, given the state of the global economy". He also noted that the country's appreciating currency has hurt export competitiveness.