24.2% factory output jump in Sept raises Singapore GDP hopes

Singapore

SINGAPORE'S factory output soared 24.2 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in September, giving a surprise boost to third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth and raising hopes for full-year performance, with some economists revising their estimates.

Driven by a near-doubling in output from the volatile biomedical cluster, September's industrial production growth was the highest since December 2011 - far exceeding economists' expectations of 2.5 per cent, and up from 15.4 per cent in August.