Singapore's manufacturing slump worsens
Sunday, 26 April 2009
SINGAPORE, Apr 25 (AP): The slump in Singapore's manufacturing accelerated in March as the global collapse in demand for exports continued to batter the tiny Southeast Asian city-state.
Industrial production fell 34 per cent from a year earlier and dropped a seasonally adjusted 14 per cent from February, the Trade and Industry Ministry said Friday.
March's decline was the biggest ever, according to HSBC, and followed a 15 per cent fall in February and a 28 per cent drop in January.
Singapore's reliance on trade, finance and tourism _ and its tiny domestic market of 5 million people _ have left it vulnerable to the global economic downturn. The economy contracted a seasonally adjusted, annualized 20 per cent in the first quarter from the previous quarter, the biggest drop reported so far in Asia.
"There remains a nagging worry that the Singapore economy is continuing to underperform its Asian neighbors," said Robert Prior-Wandesforde, senior Asia economist for HSBC in Singapore.
Production of electronics slid 35 per cent in March and pharmaceuticals plummeted 57 per cent, the ministry said. Manufacturing dropped 26 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier.
The country's worst recession since independence from Malaysia in 1965 has also hit real estate prices. Private residential property prices fell 14 per cent in the first quarter from the previous quarter, the Urban Redevelopment Authority said Friday.
Prices have fallen 21 per cent since peaking in the second quarter of last year, Prior-Wandesforde said.
"We strongly suspect the decline hasn't finished yet," Prior-Wandesforde said. "We could well have at least another 25 per cent to 30 per cent fall from here."
Industrial production fell 34 per cent from a year earlier and dropped a seasonally adjusted 14 per cent from February, the Trade and Industry Ministry said Friday.
March's decline was the biggest ever, according to HSBC, and followed a 15 per cent fall in February and a 28 per cent drop in January.
Singapore's reliance on trade, finance and tourism _ and its tiny domestic market of 5 million people _ have left it vulnerable to the global economic downturn. The economy contracted a seasonally adjusted, annualized 20 per cent in the first quarter from the previous quarter, the biggest drop reported so far in Asia.
"There remains a nagging worry that the Singapore economy is continuing to underperform its Asian neighbors," said Robert Prior-Wandesforde, senior Asia economist for HSBC in Singapore.
Production of electronics slid 35 per cent in March and pharmaceuticals plummeted 57 per cent, the ministry said. Manufacturing dropped 26 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier.
The country's worst recession since independence from Malaysia in 1965 has also hit real estate prices. Private residential property prices fell 14 per cent in the first quarter from the previous quarter, the Urban Redevelopment Authority said Friday.
Prices have fallen 21 per cent since peaking in the second quarter of last year, Prior-Wandesforde said.
"We strongly suspect the decline hasn't finished yet," Prior-Wandesforde said. "We could well have at least another 25 per cent to 30 per cent fall from here."