The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) released advance estimates of Singapore’s growth, saying that our economy grew 1.8 per cent in the final quarter of 2016, better than the 1.2 percent growth in the third quarter.
This growth brought the full-year GDP growth to 1.8 per cent, more than the Government’s initial forecast of 1 – 1.5 per cent. But this is also Singapore’s weakest annual rate growth since 2009 during the global financial crisis.
According to MTI, the manufacturing sector which makes up 20 per cent of Singapore’s economy expanded 6.5 per cent, an increase from 1.7 per cent the previous quarter. The Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Manufacturing (SIPMM) also said in a report released on 3 January that the expansion in the manufacturing sector, can be chalked towards new orders and exports, and an expansion in factory output.
