The Singapore economy grew by 1.8 per cent on a year-on-year basis for the first quarter, the same pace of growth as in the previous quarter, advance estimates from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) showed on Thursday (April 14).

The growth was better than the 1.6 per cent year-on-year increase economists polled in a quarterly survey by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) last month had expected.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualised basis (q-o-q saar), growth for the first quarter was flat in contrast to the 6.2 per cent expansion in the preceding quarter.

The manufacturing sector, which contributes to about one-fifth of the economy, contracted by 2.0 per cent for the first three months of this year, following the 6.7 per cent decline in the previous quarter. It was primarily weighed down by a decline in the output of the transport engineering, precision engineering and electronics clusters. On a q-o-q saar basis, the sector rebounded from contraction to post an 18.2 per cent growth.

Services producing industries expanded by 1.9 per cent year-on-year, moderating from the 2.8 per cent growth in the previous quarter. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the segment contracted by 3.8 per cent, reversing from the 7.7 per cent expansion in the preceding quarter.

Meanwhile, the construction sector expanded by 6.2 per cent compared to a year ago, improving from the 4.9 per cent growth in the previous quarter. On a q-o-q saar basis, the sector grew by 10.2 per cent, accelerating from the 6.0 per cent growth in the preceding quarter.

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by Angela Teng

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]