Singapore’s economic growth moderates to 2.9% in Q3

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s economic growth moderated to 2.9% year-on-year (YoY) in the third quarter, from 4.5% in the previous quarter, The Edge Singapore reported, citing advance estimates from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), which largely took into account data from July and August.

On a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) seasonally adjusted basis, the economy grew by 1.3%, easing slightly from the 1.5% expansion in the previous quarter.

Construction growth eased to 3.1% from 6.2% YoY in the previous quarter, supported by both public and private projects. However, the sector contracted by 1.2% on a quarterly basis, reversing the 6.5% growth seen earlier.

Manufacturing’s YoY growth was flat after a 5% rise in the second quarter, mainly due to lower output in biomedical and general manufacturing, even as other clusters expanded, though the sector rose 6.1%, reversing the 0.7% decline seen in the previous quarter, as stated in MTI’s press release.

Meanwhile, the services sector, which includes information and communications, finance and insurance, and professional services, expanded 4.4%, slightly higher than 4.3% in the previous quarter. /TISG

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