Singapore Feb industrial output seen falling 3.7% y-o-y: poll

[SINGAPORE] Singapore's industrial production in February probably fell from a year earlier for the 13th straight month, a Reuters poll showed, underscoring the weakness of factory activity due to tepid global demand.

The median estimate in the survey of 13 economists was for industrial production to fall 3.7 per cent in February from a year ago. In January, output fell 0.5 per cent.

The poll also showed that industrial production probably fell 2.2 per cent in February on a month-on-month and seasonally adjusted basis, after rising 9.3 per cent in January.

Singapore's exports unexpectedly rose in February from a year ago, helped by a surge in shipments from the statistically volatile pharmaceuticals sector, but the broader trade outlook remains clouded by poor demand from Asian countries.

Given a run of weak data and a lacklustre outlook for the city-state's economy, analysts see some risk of Singapore's central bank easing monetary policy at its scheduled policy review next month.

In a Reuters poll published in early March, most analysts, however, said their baseline expectation is for the Monetary Authority of Singapore to keep policy unchanged in April barring risks such as a sharper slowdown in China.

REUTERS