Singapore firms trapped as massive work backlog piles up: Nikkei

Blame manpower shortage and increased paperwork.

Private firms in Singapore are grappling with a massive backlog of unfinished work, according to the latest Nikkei Singapore purchasing managers' index report.

The report, which was released by Markit, showed that backlogs of work increased for the third successive month at a marked rate.

The increase in unfinished business was blamed on greater amounts of paperwork and, in some cases, a shortage of manpower.

Singapore’s July PMI inched up to 51.3 in July, compared to 51.1 in June. This signals the second successive monthly improvement in output growth, though the rate of improvement remained modest overall and slower than the series average.

“Private sector companies in Singapore signalled a further robust expansion in output at the start of the third quarter, which in turn contributed to the first increase in staff numbers for five months,” said Annabel Fiddes, Economist at Markit.

“However, client demand remains relatively muted, with total new work and new export business both declining slightly in July. Unless customer demand starts to show signs of reviving, this could weigh on overall growth of the sector in the coming months. Furthermore, subdued demand conditions led companies to remain cautious with regard to inventories, with stocks of inputs falling solidly and purchasing activity rising only fractionally in July,” she added.