Services to replace electronics in growth limelight

Singapore

STAR performer electronics may have dazzled over the past year, but it could be the services sector's time to shine in the next six months, according to two quarterly surveys on business sentiment.

The electronics cluster - a key driver of growth in Singapore in 2017 - showed the greatest pessimism compared to the quarter before, even as both services and manufacturing registered overall gains in business sentiment, based on figures from the Economic Development Board and the Department of Statistics (Singstat).

The services sector in particular showed a significant leap in business optimism, with more expecting conditions to improve compared to those which foresee a deterioration.

This resulted in an overall net weighted balance of 9 per cent of businesses which see an improved outlook, higher than the 5 per cent seen a quarter a…