SCCB: Slight uptick in business optimism, but cautious outlook holds

Singapore

WHILE business sentiments in Singapore have improved, overall optimism for the fourth quarter remains low, said the Singapore Commercial Credit Bureau (SCCB) on Thursday.

In its latest quarterly Business Optimism Index (BOI) study, SCCB said that the BOI edged up to 2.87 percentage points in Q4 2016, from 1.11 percentage points in the quarter before.

In year-on-year terms, the BOI moved upwards - although it climbed marginally from a low base of 0.14 percentage point in Q4 2015.

Audrey Chia, SCCB's chief executive officer, said: "Despite the slight uptick in business optimism for Q4 2016, overall commercial sentiments have by far been muted and downbeat for the most of 2016. While there were signs of a pick-up in certain sectors such as manufacturing in the previous months, we anticipate overall growth prospects to remain stagnant and settle into a much slower pace for the final quarter…