Singapore export recovery loses air

Oct 16, 2009, 8:58 GMT

   Singapore - A recovery in Singapore's exports stalled in September, government data released Friday showed, as the city-state's key exports slipped 7.2 per cent from a year ago, identical to August's decrease.

   In September, the city-state's non-oil exports dropped a 17th-consecutive month because of lower exports of electronics and petrochemical products, said International Enterprise Singapore, the city-state's trade-promotion agency.

   However, since a record decline of 35 per cent in January, Singapore's major exports have improved significantly with smaller year-on-year drops, suggesting that the export-reliant economy was on track to rebound from its worst recession in history.

   In September, Singapore's total trade reached 68.28 billion Singapore dollars (49 billion US dollars), a drop of 19 per cent from a year ago, after a contraction of 20 per cent in August, the agency said.

   Compared with the previous month, however, total trade increased by 4.6 per cent in September after a 0.8-per-cent rise in August.

   Non-oil exports climbed 3 per cent in September month-on-month after a 1.2-per-cent increase in August, the agency said.

   The largest contributors to the year-on-year decline in non-oil exports were Europe and China, both with contractions of 15 per cent.

   Exports to the United States showed some improvement in September, the agency said, decreasing by 4.7 per cent year-on-year after a 21-per-cent decline in August.

   According to preliminary figures released by the Trade and Industry Ministry Monday, Singapore's gross domestic product climbed 0.8 per cent in the third quarter compared with a year earlier, prompting the government to raise its growth forecast for 2009.

   It was now expected that the economy would shrink 2 to 2.5 per cent for the year, a smaller contraction than the previously estimated 4 to 6 per cent.