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Singapore economy grows just 0.7pc in 2019: Government

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Singapore: Singapore’s economy, a closely watched barometer for the rest of Asia’s export-driven countries, grew just 0.7 per cent last year as the US-China trade war hammered global markets.


The city-state has traditionally been the first among Asia’s economies to be affected during a downturn, and the country narrowly escaped tipping into recession in the third quarter.


The trade ministry said in a statement on Thursday that based on advance estimates, the economy expanded by 0.8 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter to December.


This puts the overall growth for 2019 at just 0.7 per cent, down from 3.2 per cent expansion in 2018.


“This marks the worst growth performance for Singapore since the global financial crisis,” DBS Bank economist Irvin Seah said in a note, referring to the downturn that began in late 2008 and lasted well into 2009.


He added, however, that “despite the lacklustre growth performance, the economy is slowly getting out of the woods” as there are “emerging signs of bottoming in the external environment”. “Barring any unforeseen negative shocks, growth momentum is expected to pick up gradually in the coming quarters,” he said.


Last year’s growth was weighed down by manufacturing, a key economic pillar, which contracted 1.5 per cent last year due to output declines in main exports such as electronics.


President Donald Trump’s announcement on Tuesday that the US and China will sign a partial new trade agreement in the middle of next month has stoked optimism about improved global trade this year. — AFP


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