Singapore’s Retail Sales Fall Most in Decade Amid Recession
By Shamim Adam
March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s retail sales fell the most in a decade in January as consumers purchased fewer cars, household and luxury goods amid a deepening economic slump.
The retail sales index dropped 12.2 percent from a year earlier, after declining 1.6 percent in December, the Statistics Department said today. That compares with the median forecast for a 2 percent contraction in a Bloomberg News survey of nine economists. Adjusted for seasonal factors, sales fell 9.9 percent from December.
Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kwan Yew predicts the economy may contract as much as 10 percent this year if exports continue to plunge. Job losses may rise in 2009 and reach numbers not seen since a regional financial crisis a decade ago as the Southeast Asian nation goes through its worst recession, the government has said.
“We expect consumer sentiment to be very weak for the rest of the year,” said Alvin Liew, an economist at Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore. “Declining tourist arrivals will also add to the woes of the retail sector here.”
Singapore Press Holdings Ltd., the city-state’s largest newspaper publisher, yesterday said it will cut wages and bonuses of 3,000 employees and freeze hiring to reduce cost. Singapore may lose 99,000 jobs by 2010 because of the recession, driving the unemployment rate to 5 percent by the middle of next year, DBS Bank Ltd. said in a Feb. 25 report.
Retail-sale volumes in January decreased 14.8 percent from a year earlier after removing the effect of higher prices, the government said today.
Vehicle sales in January slid 31.7 percent from the same month in 2008. From December, auto sales dropped 15.6 percent, without adjusting for seasonal factors. Purchases of apparel and footwear fell 8.8 percent while sales of furniture and household equipment declined 19.3 percent from a year earlier.
Sales at gas stations slipped 17.9 percent in January from a year earlier amid lower oil prices.
By Shamim Adam
March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s retail sales fell the most in a decade in January as consumers purchased fewer cars, household and luxury goods amid a deepening economic slump.
The retail sales index dropped 12.2 percent from a year earlier, after declining 1.6 percent in December, the Statistics Department said today. That compares with the median forecast for a 2 percent contraction in a Bloomberg News survey of nine economists. Adjusted for seasonal factors, sales fell 9.9 percent from December.
Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kwan Yew predicts the economy may contract as much as 10 percent this year if exports continue to plunge. Job losses may rise in 2009 and reach numbers not seen since a regional financial crisis a decade ago as the Southeast Asian nation goes through its worst recession, the government has said.
“We expect consumer sentiment to be very weak for the rest of the year,” said Alvin Liew, an economist at Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore. “Declining tourist arrivals will also add to the woes of the retail sector here.”
Singapore Press Holdings Ltd., the city-state’s largest newspaper publisher, yesterday said it will cut wages and bonuses of 3,000 employees and freeze hiring to reduce cost. Singapore may lose 99,000 jobs by 2010 because of the recession, driving the unemployment rate to 5 percent by the middle of next year, DBS Bank Ltd. said in a Feb. 25 report.
Retail-sale volumes in January decreased 14.8 percent from a year earlier after removing the effect of higher prices, the government said today.
Vehicle sales in January slid 31.7 percent from the same month in 2008. From December, auto sales dropped 15.6 percent, without adjusting for seasonal factors. Purchases of apparel and footwear fell 8.8 percent while sales of furniture and household equipment declined 19.3 percent from a year earlier.
Sales at gas stations slipped 17.9 percent in January from a year earlier amid lower oil prices.
):p
I don't want to die.... :(
