Singapore's economy grows 4.4% on-year in Q4 2013
2014-01-02 15:29:23
The Singapore economy grew 4.4 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter of 2013, down from 5.9 per cent in the previous quarter.
This is according to advance estimates from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The economy expanded in the fourth quarter, though growth slowed from 5.9 per cent in the third quarter.
For the whole of 2013, the economy is estimated to have grown by 3.7 per cent. This is in line with the government's growth forecast of 3.5 to 4 per cent.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the economy contracted by 2.7 per cent, a reversal from the 2.2 per cent expansion in the previous quarter.
Compared to a year ago, the manufacturing sector expanded by 3.5 per cent.
The slowdown was mainly due to a sharp contraction in biomedical manufacturing output and a slower pace of growth transport engineering output.
Growth of the construction sector slowed to 4.7 per cent.
The services producing industries grew 5.5 per cent, easing from the 6.5 per cent expansion in the preceding quarter amid slower expansions in the wholesale & retail trade and finance & insurance sectors.
Despite the slower growth, most economists believe Singapore's economic growth in 2014 will outperform 2013.
Vishnu Varathan, senior economist at Mizuho Bank, said: “We think that with the US surprising on the upside and China continuing to recover, with a bit of two steps forward, one step back, we still see Singapore as the barometer of the global economy and gaining some momentum towards the four to five per cent range.”