Singapore's February industrial output seen falling 3.4% year on year

[SINGAPORE] Singapore's industrial production probably fell in February from a year earlier, dented by weak exports and the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday, a Reuters poll showed.

The median estimate in the poll of 10 economists was for industrial output to fall 3.4 per cent year-on-year in February, after rising 0.9 per cent in January.

On a month-on-month and seasonally adjusted basis, manufacturing output likely fell 0.7 per cent, after declining 4.7 per cent in January.

Economists said comparitive base effects related to the timing of the Lunar New Year holidays were likely to weigh on manufacturing output on a year-on-year basis. In 2014, public holidays in Singapore for the Chinese New Year were on Jan 31 and Feb 1, while this year the holiday began on Feb 19.

Export weakness has also weighed on manufacturing output. Singapore's non-oil domestic exports fell more than expected in February as momentum in the global economy remained modest.

REUTERS