Singapore: improved economic outlook in 2020 – UOB

Economist at UOB Group Barnabas Gan gave his views on the latest GDP figures of Singapore.

Key Quotes

“Singapore’s GDP grew 0.8% on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to the advance estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry. On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, it expanded 0.1%. Accounting for the latest data, Singapore’s economy grew 0.7% in 2019.”

“The construction and services clusters continue to buttress growth in the last quarter of 2019, although manufacturing contracted 2.1% and marked its fourth consecutive quarter of decline. With the contraction in 4Q19, December’s industrial production will likely come in around -0.6% y/y, thus indicating that the November’s contraction of 9.3% y/y is likely an oversized blip.”

“With growth accelerating further to end the year, we opine that Singapore’s economy has stabilised since late 2019 despite the dismal manufacturing print in November. Into the New Year ahead, we look for an improved growth outlook as global trade conditions improve. As such, we expect the MAS to keep policy parameters unchanged at its April’s meeting.”