Pedestrians walk along the Orchard Road shopping district in Singapore. (Source: wsj.com)Singapore (VNA) –Singapore’s economy expanded by 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2017, lowerthan the growth of 2.9 percent in the final quarter of 2016, according tostatistics released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MIT) on April 13.
Growth dropped by 1.9 percent inQ1 on quarter-on-quarterseasonally-adjusted annualized basis, after a strong rebound of 12.3 percent ofthe final quarter of 2016.
In Q1, the manufacturing sector saw a yearly increase of 6.6 percent,down from 11.5 percent growth in the previous quarter. The sector was primarilysupported by robust output expansions in the electronics and precisionengineering clusters. On quarter – on - quarter basis, the sector shrank by 6.6percent following a surge by 39.8 percent in the 2016 QIV.
The services sector increased by 1.5 percent compared to the sameperiod last year, mostly driven by retails and wholesales trade as well astransportation and storage. However, on quarter – on – quarter basis, thesector slumped 2.2 percent, a reversal from the 8.4 percent expansion in thepreceding quarter.
The construction sector shrank by 1.1 percent after increasing by 2.8percent in the previous quarter, due to a slowdown in private sectorconstruction activities.
MTI said it will release the growth rate of Gross Domestic Products(GDP) in the January-March period, including performance by sectors, sources ofgrowth, inflation, employment and productivity, in its Economic Survey ofSingapore in May.
Meanwhile, Singapore's central bank, the Monetary Authority ofSingapore (MAS), said it will maintain the current neutral policy stance toadopt zero appreciation against the currencies of Singapore's key tradingpartners.-VNA
