SINGAPORE, Aug 11 — Singapore narrowed its growth forecast for 2015 after the economy shrank last quarter amid a manufacturing contraction.
Gross domestic product fell an annualised four per cent in the three months through June from the previous quarter, when it grew a revised 4.1 per cent, the trade ministry said in a statement today. That compares with an initial estimate of a 4.6 per cent drop, which was also the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.
Singapore’s export-dependent economy has been hurt by slowing growth in China, while uneven recoveries in the US and Europe have damped overseas demand for Asian goods. Further volatility in China’s stock market could undermine Chinese spending while financial conditions could tighten more than expected in the region as the US begins to raise interest rates, Monetary Authority of Singapore Managing Director Ravi Menon said last month.
“Growth in the region could remain softer for a longer period of time,” said Vishnu Varathan, an economist from Mizuho Bank Ltd. “China is struggling to hit seven per cent growth, and the financial-market volatility in particular subtracts from confidence and dents investment in the region.”
The GDP forecast was narrowed to 2-2.5 per cent, from 2-4 per cent previously. — Bloomberg
