A ship prepares to enter PSA’s Tanjong Pagar Container Port in Singapore on April 18, 2016.Reuters/Edgar Hsu/File photo Obtaining license rights
SINGAPORE, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Singapore’s annual exports fell for the 11th straight month in August, as the trade-dependent economy continues to face global headwinds of inflation and weaker demand.
Official data on Monday showed Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) fell 20.1% year-on-year in August as exports of electronics and non-electronics products to the US, Europe and China both fell.
That was down from a Reuters poll’s forecast of a 15.8% decline, continuing the 20.3% decline seen in July.
“This seems to suggest that some stabilization of exports has yet to materialize,” said Brian Tan, an economist at Barclays.
Economists expect the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to leave monetary policy unchanged in a policy review scheduled for next month, citing slowing growth and persistent inflation.
“Even if growth is weak, inflation is at a level that is very uncomfortable for us. It is too early to ease on inflation and MAS will remain relatively cautious,” Tan said.
On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, NODX decreased by 3.8%, compared with a 3.5% decline in the previous month, according to Enterprise Singapore data. Economists had expected growth of 5.5%.
NODX to the US fell 32.4% in August, after expanding 34.3% in the previous month, mainly due to a sharp decline in non-electronic exports.
Singapore last month revised its economic growth forecast for this year from 0.5-2.5% to zero after narrowly avoiding recession with a seasonally adjusted 0.1% economic growth in the second quarter. The rate was lowered to .5-1.5%.
The central bank left policy settings unchanged in April after tightening five consecutive times since October 2021, reflecting concerns about the city-state’s growth prospects.
Report by Chen Lin.Editing: Kanupriya Kapoor
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