March factory output cues slight Q1 growth upgrade

Singapore

THE Singapore economy may have grown slightly more in the first quarter than advance GDP estimates suggest, economists said, after the manufacturing sector did better than expected in March, reinforcing last month's strong exports data.

Whether this can be sustained remains to be seen though, as manufacturers will continue to be challenged by economic uncertainty in export markets and the tight labour market back home.

Singapore's industrial production shrank 5.5 per cent in March …