SINGAPORE: The ministry said its central view is for GDP growth in 2018 to come in slightly above the middle of its forecast range of 1.5 to 3.5 percent. Singapore’s economy grew slower than initially thought in the fourth quarter from the third, as manufacturing activity slumped in a sign of moderating momentum this year as exports of the city state’s key tech products taper off. Singapore on Wednesday revised upwards its economic growth for 2017 as an expected downward revision to manufacturing was offset by better-than-expected growth in services. S. trade protectionism, as well as any faster than expected normalisation in U. According to data from MTI, the manufacturing sector expanded by 4.8% year-on-year during the fourth quarter, slowing from 19.1% in the third quarter. The pressure on the economy stemmed from the manufacturing sector, which contracted 14.8 percent in the fourth quarter on a quarter-on-quarter annualised basis. For the whole of 2017, manufacturing grew 10.1%. However, we see a spillover to the services sector which is usually not too volatile in terms of growth rates”, Tan added. Externally-oriented services sectors such as finance & insurance, transportation & storage and wholesale trade are expected to benefit from firm external demand. The output was pulled down by 29.1% decline in private residential and private industrial construction works. Looking ahead, MTI said the outlook for the global economy has improved slightly since November. However, their pace of growth is also likely to ease in 2018. Singapore will announce its 2018 budget next week, with economists expecting the government to announce an increase to the goods and services tax to support future social spending.
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