Singapore exports to China drop 25%; services growth may not hold up

Singapore

SINGAPORE'S exports to China dived a worrying 25.2 per cent in January - its worst performance in seven years.

With the first set of government economic data for 2016 out on Wednesday, it appears the real economy has deteriorated along with the meltdown in stock markets around the world.

Private-sector economists said that as it stands, the economy was already going downhill; with quite a few starting to bandy the "R" word (recession) about.

International Enterprise Singapore on Wednesday released figures which showed NODX for January plunged 9.9 per cent year-on-year, exceeding both the 7.6 per cent tumble which the market had tipped and December's 7.2 per cent drop.

It was the NODX's third straight month of decline - and in line with the fall in exports of other key Asian exporters like China (-18.7 per cent), Taiwan (-17.1 per cent) and South Korea…