Economy to shrink 5-7% this year: SGX

But recent weeks have shown that it is recovering from record-low Q2 activities.

Singapore's official GDP growth forecast for 2020 remains at a five to seven percent contraction, according to SGX, with the travel, consumer-facing and construction sectors still the most affected.

Advanced estimates for the construction industry in Q3 displayed a 44.7% plunge from Q3 2019 brought about by the sluggish resumption of activities due to safe management measures.

However, the sector also grew 38.7% from Q2, signalling a sequential recovery.

The country’s August retail sales dropped 6% from the same period last year but rebounded 1.4% from July. F&B Services Index went down 3% in August from July figures but also recovered 29% in July versus in June.

Even though the GDP’s services component is well-diversified over several sectors, the short-term outlook for these industries is still unequal, with varying operating environments for transportation compared to communications.

In terms of employment, most job creations are currently focused on information and communications, food services, professional services, healthcare, and finance and insurance, the report said.

On a positive note, the recent weeks have shown that the economy is rebounding from the record-low economic activity seen in Q2 that were attributed to stringent circuit breaker measures, SGX said.