MAS survey: Private sector economists trim Singapore’s 2016 GDP to 1.8pc

SINGAPORE, June 15 — Private sector economists have trimmed the economic growth forecast for the Republic for this year as a better performance from the manufacturing sector is offset by a moderated performance in the finance & insurance and wholesale & retail trade segments.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is now expected to expand 1.8 per cent for this year, inching slightly lower than the 1.9 per cent forecast projected in March, based on 22 respondents in the latest quarterly survey by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

The growth is however, still within the 1 to 3 per cent official forecast. For next year, GDP is expected to come in at 2.1 per cent.

The manufacturing sector, which contributes to about one-fifth of the Republic’s GDP, eased to a flat growth compared to the previous survey poll of a 2.7 per cent contraction. The finance & insurance and wholesale & retail trade sectors moderated to 2.9 per cent and 2.0 per cent, compared to the previous expectation of a 3.6 per cent and 3.9 per cent increase, respectively.

Meanwhile, the economists in the survey have also adjusted the headline inflation forecast. The headline consumer inflation is now expected to come in at minus 0.4 per cent, compared to the minus 0.2 per cent in the previous survey. Core inflation, which excludes accommodation and private road transport costs, is expected to be at 0.8 per cent, unchanged from the previous survey. ― TODAY

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