Singapore’s economy grew more than expected in the third quarter, but the year-on-year growth moderated compared to last quarter as manufacturing output stagnated, advanced government estimates showed on Tuesday.
Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 2.9% year-on-year, above expectations for a 2.0% increase but much slower than the 4.5% growth recorded in the second quarter, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) stated on Tuesday.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP rose 5.4%, sharply higher than the 2.0% growth forecast and up from 1.5% in the previous quarter.
The slowdown was largely driven by a flat performance in the manufacturing sector, where declines in biomedical and general manufacturing output offset gains in electronics and transport engineering.
Construction activity remained a bright spot, supported by ongoing public infrastructure projects and firm private sector demand. However, growth in the sector moderated after a surge earlier in the year, suggesting that the post-pandemic recovery in building activity may be stabilizing.
Services continued to underpin the economy, expanding at a steady clip on the back of resilient financial, professional, and information technology-related activities.
Singapore’s central bank left monetary policy unchanged on Tuesday, as expected, keeping the current rate of appreciation for its Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (S$NEER) policy band.
MTI said the preliminary figures were based on data from July and August and are subject to revision when more comprehensive statistics are released in November.
Source :
https://www.investing.com/news/economic-indicators/singapore-q3-gdp-beats-forecasts-but-growth-slows-as-manufacturing-stalls-4284683
