In August, Singapore experienced its 11th consecutive month of declining annual exports, reflecting the ongoing challenges faced by its trade-dependent economy due to global factors such as inflation and reduced demand.
Official data released on Monday revealed that Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) plummeted by 20.1% year-on-year in August. This decline affected both electronic and non-electronic exports to key markets like the United States, Europe, and China.
The actual decline exceeded the expectations of a 15.8% contraction as per a Reuters poll, and it followed the 20.3% contraction observed in July.
Due to the ongoing weak growth and persistent inflation, economists anticipate that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will maintain its current monetary policy during the upcoming policy review scheduled for next month.
According to data from Enterprise Singapore, there was a 3.8% month-on-month decrease in non-oil domestic exports (NODX) on a seasonally adjusted basis. This decline was slightly higher than the previous month’s 3.5% drop and contrary to economists’ expectations of a 5.5% growth.
In August, NODX directed towards the United States contracted by 32.4%, following a 34.3% expansion in the previous month. This contraction was primarily driven by a sharp decline in non-electronic exports.
Last month, Singapore revised its economic growth projection for the year to a range of 0.5% to 1.5%, down from the earlier estimate of 0.5% to 2.5%. This adjustment came after the country narrowly avoided a recession in the second quarter when its economy experienced a slight seasonally-adjusted expansion of 0.1%.
In April, the central bank maintained its policy settings without making any changes. This decision followed a series of five consecutive tightening moves that began in October 2021, and it was driven by apprehensions regarding the growth prospects of the city-state.
(Source: Chen Lin | Kanupriya Kapoor | Reuters | Ronnie Harui | WSJ)
