Singapore’s Q3 GDP sharply nosedives by 4.1%

Analysts are depressed as figures turned out worse than expected.

Some analysts are proven right this time as Singapore economy actually performed worse than the market had expected.

According to Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore economy grew by 0.6% YoY for 3Q16, easing from the 2.0% growth in the previous quarter. On a QoQ basis, the economy contracted 4.1%, a reversal from the 0.2 growth in the preceding quarter.

This quarter’s growth is sharply lower than what economists estimated at 1.7%.

Figures from MTI revealed that manufacturing sector contracted by 1.1% compared to a 1.4 expansion in the previous quarter.

"The sector was primarily weighed down by a decline in the output of the transport engineering, biomedical manufacturing and general manufacturing clusters," the trade ministry said.

Growth in the construction has slowed marginally to 2.5% YoY this quarter due to a sharper decline in private sector construction activities.

Meanwhile, services producing industries recorded a slight contraction of 0.1% compared to the 1.2% growth in the preceding quarter.

"Growth was weighed down primarily by the wholesale & retail trade sector. Within the sector, the wholesale trade segment contracted while the retail segment posted positive growth, bolstered by motor vehicle sales," MTI explained.