Singapore’s Economy Manages to Grow Despite Gloomy Global Economy
In Southeast Asia, Singapore has always been a feisty contender in a secure and robust economy. Its solid foundation as a trading port and a financial hub ever since the 1960s has weathered several economic crises. The government of Singapore has always been proactive in making policies that are in tandem with the changes of time. Singapore also actively engages with world economic leaders to tackle possible financial predicaments. But with the sluggish global economic development, even the Singapore economy in 2019 is feeling the impact.
Projected Economic Growth
Early on in November, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) Singapore has expected the Singapore economy growth for the full year to be between 0.5 and 1 per cent. Just recently, the MTI has released data about Singapore’s economy based on flash estimates, and it showed the economy was growing by 0.7 per cent in 2019. This new data is consistent with the government’s projected growth for Singapore’s economy.
Ups and Downs by the Quarters
Relative to this fact is the growth of the economy in the fourth quarter. Overall, the economy was expanding on a sluggish note at 0.1 per cent. This was in comparison with the third quarter figure growth at 2.4 per cent. The slower pace of development is highly contributed by the manufacturing sector, which went down by 2.1 per cent in the fourth quarter. It is said that it continues to decline from 0.9 per cent in the third quarter of the same year. The decline in the manufacturing sector is due to reduced yield in the electronics, chemicals and transport engineering clusters. As such, it has negated expansions in precision engineering, biomedical manufacturing and general manufacturing sections. Overall, the construction sector grew by 2.1 per cent in the fourth quarter, slightly slower than 2.4 per cent in the third quarter. While the manufacturing and construction sector are slowing down, other areas are showing positive signs of growth for 2019.
Positive Signs
Other sectors that are showing positive signs of ascent are the service-producing industries such as the finance and insurance sector. This growth is propelled by the fact that more users are keen on using payment processing services. With the advent of technology, more users are making purchases online. Hence the need to utilize payment processing services will continue to rise steadily. The business services sector has also contributed positively to the fourth quarter of 2019. The professional services segment supports it. The service-producing industry has grown by 1.4 per cent in the final quarter of the year. In comparison, the same industry only grew by 0.9 per cent in the third quarter.
Complete and Final in February
The MTI will be releasing the final 2019 growth figures, which will include how each sector performs, sources of growth, inflation, employment and productivity in February 2020.
