Singapore key exports could fall as global economic slowdown takes toll on SE Asia
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
SINGAPORE, Aug 11 (AFP): Singapore said today its key exports could fall up to four per cent this year as a global economic slowdown takes its toll on Southeast Asia's most advanced economy.
The city-state's main non-oil domestic exports could fall two to four per cent against a previous forecast of a rise of two to four per cent, said trade promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore.
"The developed economies are expected to lead the slowdown in global economic activity, with their real GDP (gross domestic product) growth forecasts for 2008 moderating significantly from that in 2007," it said.
Sluggish US demand and concerns about a European slowdown have cast a shadow over the prospects for Singapore's exports of items such as electronics, pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
Key exports fell 2.4 per cent in the first six months of the year, the trade promotion agency said.
Singapore's export performance is closely watched for clues about the health of its economy. The city-state's trade is worth more than three times its gross domestic product, which was 243.17 billion dollars (104 billion US) in 2007.
The government also said today that Singaporean economic growth slowed to an annual 2.1 per cent in the second quarter. It cut its full-year growth target to four to five per cent just a few days ago.
Meanwhile, Singapore's economic growth slowed to an annual 2.1 per cent in the second quarter, the government announced today, just days after cutting the full-year growth target to 4.0-5.0 per cent.
The quarterly performance was sharply down from the 6.9 per cent rise recorded in the first quarter and brought real GDP expansion in the first half of 2008 to 4.5 per cent, the ministry of trade and industry said (MTI).
On an annualised, quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP contracted 6.0 per cent in the second quarter, better than analysts' expectations of a decline of 6.8 per cent, according to a Dow Jones Newswires poll.
MTI also said the full-year growth target for 2008 has been cut to 4.0-5.0 per cent from 4.0-6.0 per cent, a downward revision first announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day message Friday.
It said the revised growth target "is consistent with the moderation in economic growth seen in the second quarter."
The outlook for the second half of 2008 is not expected to improve much with the major economies generally seeing a slowdown that will in turn affect exports from Asia including Singapore, MTI said.
The city-state's main non-oil domestic exports could fall two to four per cent against a previous forecast of a rise of two to four per cent, said trade promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore.
"The developed economies are expected to lead the slowdown in global economic activity, with their real GDP (gross domestic product) growth forecasts for 2008 moderating significantly from that in 2007," it said.
Sluggish US demand and concerns about a European slowdown have cast a shadow over the prospects for Singapore's exports of items such as electronics, pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
Key exports fell 2.4 per cent in the first six months of the year, the trade promotion agency said.
Singapore's export performance is closely watched for clues about the health of its economy. The city-state's trade is worth more than three times its gross domestic product, which was 243.17 billion dollars (104 billion US) in 2007.
The government also said today that Singaporean economic growth slowed to an annual 2.1 per cent in the second quarter. It cut its full-year growth target to four to five per cent just a few days ago.
Meanwhile, Singapore's economic growth slowed to an annual 2.1 per cent in the second quarter, the government announced today, just days after cutting the full-year growth target to 4.0-5.0 per cent.
The quarterly performance was sharply down from the 6.9 per cent rise recorded in the first quarter and brought real GDP expansion in the first half of 2008 to 4.5 per cent, the ministry of trade and industry said (MTI).
On an annualised, quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP contracted 6.0 per cent in the second quarter, better than analysts' expectations of a decline of 6.8 per cent, according to a Dow Jones Newswires poll.
MTI also said the full-year growth target for 2008 has been cut to 4.0-5.0 per cent from 4.0-6.0 per cent, a downward revision first announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day message Friday.
It said the revised growth target "is consistent with the moderation in economic growth seen in the second quarter."
The outlook for the second half of 2008 is not expected to improve much with the major economies generally seeing a slowdown that will in turn affect exports from Asia including Singapore, MTI said.