Singapore economy slides closer to recession, figures worse than expected

Singapore’s economy has tanked in Q2, slowing again after hitting the lowest rate since the global financial crisis of 2008 in Q1 this year.

The Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry pegged Singapore’s economic growth at a mere 0.1% in the second quarter of this year, well below analysts’ expectations of 1.1%, according to a Bloomberg forecast.

It is also a far cry from the revised 1.1% growth in the previous quarter and marks the sixth straight quarter of sliding growth.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualised basis, the economy shrank by 3.4%, after posting growth of 3.8% in the preceding three months.

Manufacturing performed poorly dropping 6% from the previous quarter, while construction contracted by 7.6% and service industries by 1.5%.

Ms Selena Ling, head of treasury research and strategy at OCBC Bank, told The Straits Times: “It does look like the risk of a technical recession is growing by the day.”

A technical recession is defined by two consecutive quarters of slowdown.

SOURCE: The Straits Times