Singapore’s full-year growth will depend on how well manufacturing holds up: analysts

THE direction of Covid-19 policy in China has emerged as a key downside risk to Singapore’s economic outlook, as the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) on Wednesday (May 25) warned that external demand looks weaker now than it did 3 months ago.

And, following Russia’s shock invasion of Ukraine in late February, inflation from higher commodity prices was cited as another threat, with the MTI announcing that gross domestic product (GDP) growth will likely fall in the lower half of its 3 per cent to 5 per cent forecast range in 2022.

Even though Singapore’s GDP beat advance estimates to expand by 3.7 per cent year on year in the first quarter, private analysts were torn on the extent of the impact of a possible Chinese economic slowdown on Singapore’s manufacturing sector and growth prospects.