Posted on 09/17/2013 11:53:09 PM PDT by TexGrill
SINGAPORE: Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX) contracted unexpectedly in August, falling 6.2 per cent on-year following a 1.9 per cent drop in July.
August's fall is the seventh straight month of decline, according to figures from trade agency International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore).
The pullback in trade performance surprised some economists who had expected a 2.4 per cent on-year increase in August NODX.
Compared to July, NODX declined by 6.0 per cent in August, following the previous month's 1.8 per cent contraction.
From January to August, NODX fell 7.7 per cent on-year, and some economists say Singapore could miss its official forecast of a 0 to 1 per cent growth this year.
Singapore's economy may even see a contraction in the third quarter, following a strong 15.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth in the second quarter.
DBS Bank senior economist, Irvin Seah, said: "If we do get a contraction in August industrial production number, I think it is almost a given that we will get a contraction in GDP growth for the third quarter.
"Over the last one month or so, we have seen problems emerging in two of our key neighbouring trading partners, essentially Malaysia and Indonesia.
"These two countries account for quite a big chunk of our exports. With the problems in these two countries, the depreciation of their currencies, it will certainly affect our non-oil domestic exports performance and indirectly our GDP growth."
(Excerpt) Read more at channelnewsasia.com ...
Not a good economic sign...Singapore is one of the stronger economies
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