Pharma lifts Q1 but Q2 will be painful; full-year GDP to dip up to 7%

Singapore

THE economic hit from the deadly novel coronavirus will likely be at its worst in the second quarter, according to forecasts from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Tuesday.

But even a "very gradual" recovery in the second half could be marked by negative year-on-year prints, policymakers warned at a briefing, as they downgraded Singapore's recession outlook deeper into the red.