SING`ORE, July 14 (Reuters) – Singapore’s economy narrowly escaped a technical recession after posting modest growth in the April-June period, preliminary government data showed on Friday, while global demand slacked and China’s slowdown weighed on trade.
The economy grew a seasonally adjusted 0.3% qoq after contracting 0.4% in the first quarter. Four economists with quarterly estimates had forecast growth of 0.3% in a Reuters poll.
On an annualized basis, the economy grew 0.7% in the second quarter, according to preliminary estimates from the Department of Trade and Industry. That compares to 0.4% growth in the previous quarter and a 0.6% expansion forecast in a Reuters poll.
For this year, the government had forecast GDP growth of 0.5% to 2.5%.
The ministry said in May it did not expect a technical recession – defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction – this year, but acknowledged that the outlook for external demand for the rest of the year had softened.
Inflation in Singapore remained high in the first half of this year, but authorities said core prices are likely to fall further in the second half.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore left its policy stance unchanged in April after tightening five times in a row since October 2021, reflecting concerns about the city-state’s growth prospects.
Reporting by Chen Lin; Edited by Martin Petty
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Comments are closed.