Manufacturers grow even more bearish as economic growth stalls

Over 1 in 4 firms expect business conditions to deteriorate.

Manufacturing firms in Singapore have become more pessimistic over their growth prospects for the next six months, according to a survey by the Economic Development Board.

The survey showed that 26% of manufacturers expect business conditions to deteriorate from October 2015 to March 2016, while just 10% expect an improvement in business conditions.

Overall, a net weighted balance of 16 per cent of manufacturers anticipates a less favourable business situation in the period October 2015 – March 2016, compared to the third quarter of 2015.

The bearish outlook gripped nearly all manufacturing clusters, the survey showed. The chemicals and the electronics clusters are the most pessimistic, with a net weighted 22 and 38 per cent of firms expecting a worsening situation in the next two quarters, respectively.

Firms in both clusters are concerned about the slowdown in China’s economy, the EDB said.

Meanwhile, companies in the biomedical manufacturing cluster remained upbeat about their growth prospects, with 36% of firms expecting business conditions to improve.