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A view of Marina Bay Sands at sunrise on Sept. 18, 2016 in Singapore.
Rustam Azmi | Getty Images
Singapore’s economy grew faster than initially estimated in the third quarter, official data showed on Thursday, confirming the bellwether Asian economy comfortably escaped a recession helped by an improving manufacturing sector.
The government also narrowed its official growth forecast for 2019 to 0.5% to 1.0% to the upper half of its previous 0.0% to 1.0% projection range.
Gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.5% year-on-year, faster than the 0.1% growth seen in the government’s advance estimate and matching the 0.5% predicted in a Reuters poll.
Singapore’s economy grew 2.1% in the July-September period from the previous three months on an annualized and seasonally adjusted basis, compared with the government’s initial estimate of a 0.6% expansion and the median forecast in a Reuters survey of 2.1% growth.
“There are signs of stabilization in the global economy even though global growth remains weak,” said permanent secretary for trade and industry Gabriel Lim, adding that Singapore’s embattled manufacturing sector had also performed better than expected in recent months.
Last month, Singapore’s central bank eased monetary policy for the first time in three years to shore up slowing growth. Speaking after Thursday’s data, a central bank official said that policy remained appropriate.
Singapore, like other trade-reliant Asian economies, has been hit hard by the escalating U.S.-China trade war and a broader global slowdown, cutting full-year growth forecasts twice this year.
Its manufacturing sector, which has taken a hit this year, posted its first rise in five months in September on a surge in pharmaceutical output.
Singapore’s exports in October shrank for the eighth straight month and were worse than analysts’ expectations as shipments of electronics slid, official data showed on Monday.