Singapore's economic growth slows to 0.7% in 2019: MTI flash data

SINGAPORE — The Singapore economy expanded by 0.7 per cent last year, a marked slowdown from 2018’s 3.1 per cent growth, even as flash estimates from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Thursday (Jan 2) showed growth picking up pace slightly in the fourth quarter.

For the last three months of 2019, gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.8 per cent from the same period a year ago, a nudge up from the revised 0.7 per cent growth in the third quarter.

The fourth-quarter flash estimate, which is computed largely from data gathered in the first two months of the quarter, was in line with a Reuters forecast.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualised basis, the economy grew at a slower pace of 0.1 per cent. This is way below the 2.4 per cent expansion in the previous quarter and below economists’ expectations of 0.4 per cent.

Singapore’s export-oriented economy hit the brakes in 2019 amid a drawn-out trade war between the US and China as well as a cyclical downturn in the electronics sector.

Policymakers revised their full-year economic growth forecast three times and the flash estimate released on Wednesday comes in within the forecast range of 0.5 to 1 per cent.

In his New Year message, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Singapore has been affected by the global economic slowdown. While the economy avoided a recession this year and is still growing, it is doing so “less vigorously than we would like”.

The upcoming Budget will include support measures for businesses to raise productivity and workers to retrain, as well as help for households to cope with living costs.

In a separate New Year message, People’s Action Party first assistant secretary-general Heng Swee Keat also noted concerns about the economic slowdown and growing global uncertainty.

“We are looking at measures to tackle these, even as we build for the longer term,” said Mr Heng, who is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance. CNA

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