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Source:
www.mti.gov.sg |
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PERFORMANCE OF THE SINGAPORE
ECONOMY IN FIRST QUARTER 2005 AND OUTLOOK FOR 2005 |
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Performance |
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The Singapore economy slowed to 2.5% in 1Q05, from
6.5% in 4Q04. The growth momentum, on an annualised quarter-on-quarter basis
declined significantly by 5.5%, after a 7.9% rise in 4Q04. |
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Sources of Growth |
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Total demand rose by a smaller 7.3% in 1Q05,
compared to the increase of 13.2% in the last quarter of 2004. This slowdown
was due to a contraction of domestic demand by 3.6%, compared to an increase
of 4.7% in 4Q04 as well as a moderation of growth of external demand from
16.0% to 11.3%. |
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The contraction of domestic demand was a result of
a moderation of private consumption expenditure and declining private sector
investment spending. Meanwhile, the moderation of growth of external demand
was mainly a reflection of a slowdown in merchandise exports. |
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Sectoral Performance |
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In the first quarter of 2005, other than the
construction sector, all other major economic sectors registered positive
growth. However, the pace of growth had slowed across most sectors (see
Annex). |
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THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR grew by 3.1% in the 1Q05,
decelerating from a 14.1% growth registered in 4Q04. This slowdown was mainly
due to the contraction in the biomedical manufacturing cluster by 18.8% in
1Q05. The chemicals and transport engineering clusters also registered slower
rates of growth of 6.2% and 21.6% respectively. |
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However, these were offset by a 10.8% increase in
the electronics cluster. Growth in the electronics cluster was driven by a
strong showing within the infocomms & consumer electronics, data storage and
semiconductor segments. |
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THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR continued to contract in
1Q05 but by a smaller 7.3%, compared to the contraction of 8.4% in 4Q04. Held
up by robust growth of civil engineering works, public sector certified
payments edged up 1.6% in 1Q05, after contracting by 11.9% in 4Q04. |
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On the other hand, private sector construction
works declined 6.2%, owing to slower activities in the residential and
industrial segments. Due to the exceptional gains in the industrial segment,
total contracts awarded surged 27.0%, following a 13.7% gain in the last
quarter of 2004. |
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THE WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE SECTOR moderated to
6.7% in 1Q05, significantly lower than the gain of 10.7% registered in 4Q04.
Entrepot trade slowed, with non-oil re-exports growing by a slower 10.3%. |
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Domestic trade also eased off, with retail sales
growing by 6.2% in 1Q05, compared to 7.9% in 4Q04, as sales of motor vehicles
slowed. However, supported by improved sales of the other retail segments,
retail sales excluding motor vehicles rose from 3.0% in the last quarter of
2004 to 5.2% in 1Q05. |
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THE HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS SECTOR grew by a
smaller 2.7% in 1Q05, compared to 4.6% in 4Q04. Growth of the sector was
boosted by an increase in total hotel room revenue as well as a smaller
increase in food and beverage revenue. |
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Total hotel room revenue in 1Q05 is estimated to
have grown by 8.5% to reach about $261 million while the average room rate was
$128, an increase of 4.3% over the corresponding period in 2004. |
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The average occupancy rate of gazetted hotels was
80 per cent, a 3.8 percentage-point increase over the first quarter of 2004.
At the same time, food and beverage revenue from all cess-paying
establishments is estimated to have reached $443 million in 1Q05, an increase
of 8.2% compared to the same period in 2004. |
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More..... |
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Source:
Ministry of Trade & Industry Press Release
17 May 2005 |
FrontPage Edition: Thu 19 May 2005
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