Singapore - The fall in Singapore's external trade levelled
off in May as non-oil exports dropped by 12 per cent year-on-year,
government data released Wednesday showed, thus raising hopes that
the worst might be over for the city-state's economy.
The decline in May represented the 13th month of contraction on a
year-to-year basis, as Singapore battles its worst recession for
more than three decades amid the global economic downturn.
However, it was the smallest fall so far this year and a better
result than in April when Singapore's non-oil exports slumped 19 per
cent.
On a month-on-month basis, non-oil exports increased by 5.6 per
cent in May after a 1.4-per-cent contraction in April, said
International Enterprise Singapore, the city-state's agency
to promote external business.
Total trade rose 3.4 per cent compared to the previous month to
about 60 billion Singapore dollars (41 billion US dollars) in May.
Compared to a year ago, however, total trade slumped 27 per cent
in May following a year-on-year contraction of 29 per cent in April.
The fall of non-oil exports in May was 'due to contractions in
both electronic and non-electronic domestic exports,' the promotion
agency said.
Following a continued drop in external demand, Singapore's exports
of electronic goods fell 22 per cent in May compared to a year ago,
after a decline of 26 per cent in April.
On a year-to-year basis exports of non-electronic goods - such as
petrochemicals and specialized machinery - decreased by 5.6 per cent
in May, a result much better than the 15-per-cent drop posted in
April.
All of Singapore's top 10 markets for non-oil exports except
Taiwan and South Korea declined in May compared to a year earlier,
said the agency.
The largest contributors to the fall were the United States, Japan
and Malaysia with drops of 35 per cent, 29 per cent and 23 per cent
respectively.
Singapore's export-reliant economy has been hit hard by the global
financial downturn.
The city-state's gross domestic product dropped 10.1 per cent in
the first quarter 2009. The government expected the economy to shrink
by 6 to 9 per cent for the whole year.
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