Economists upgrade Singapore GDP expectations: Reuters poll
Singapore's economy in the third quarter is expected to have expanded much more than initially thought and is likely to stabilise in the coming quarters, helped by a recovery in manufacturing, a Reuters poll found yesterday.
Final gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to have grown a seasonally adjusted and annualised 2.1 per cent from the second quarter, a Reuters poll of 13 economists showed, much more than the 0.6 per cent growth in the Government's advance estimates. The economy contracted 2.7 per cent in the quarter earlier.
"Final third quarter GDP is expected to be materially upgraded," said Maybank Kim Eng economist Lee Ju Ye.
"Manufacturing came in much stronger than expected in September and services growth likely picked up speed, particularly in finance, business and tourism-related services,"she added.
Singapore has been hit hard by the US-China trade war and a broader global slowdown.
From the year earlier, economic growth is expected to be revised to 0.5 per cent, higher than the 0.1 per cent seen in advance estimates and the quarter earlier.
Singapore's growth is also likely to stabilise in the fourth quarter and recover next year.
"The tension between the near-term stabilisation if not modest pick-up in trade and lacklustre global capex remains, limiting the upside to final demand," JP Morgan economist Sin Beng Ong said, adding weakness in electronics output could complicate outlook.
Singapore exports last month shrank for the eighth straight month as shipments of electronics continued to slide, official data showed on Monday.- REUTERS
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