<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>April 24, 2009, 2.02 pm (Singapore time)
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>S'pore March factory output slides 34%
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SINGAPORE - Singapore's March factory output fell a larger-than-expected 33.9 per cent from a year ago as electronics and drugs production slid amid weak export demand. Factory output fell a seasonally adjusted 13.9 per cent from February, the government said on Friday.
The figures were the largest declines in at least two years, with Standard Chartered economist Alvin Liew saying the year-on-year drop was the largest ever.
Electronics output contracted by 34.6 per cent in March compared to a year ago, while pharmaceuticals manufacturing shrank by 57.3 per cent.
The government revised up its January and February industrial production data, to -27.6 per cent and -15.1 per cent respectively from a year earlier.
'Even with the dire outcome for Friday's March industrial production data, we may yet see a small upward revision of the preliminary -11.5 per cent year-on-year Q1 2009 GDP contraction, by maybe 0.1 to 0.5 percentage points, on the basis of improved February industrial production data,' said Mr Liew.
Singapore exports the bulk of its manufactured products and manufacturing accounts for about one quarter of the economy.
Its exports fell 17 per cent in March from a year earlier, slightly better than a fall of 24 per cent in February.
That and a record contraction in gross domestic product in the first quarter prompted the central bank to ease monetary policy to help the trade-dependent economy through the financial crisis. .
The government expects the economy to shrink 6-9 per cent this year. -- REUTERS
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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>S'pore March factory output slides 34%
<TABLE class=storyLinks cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
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</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>SINGAPORE - Singapore's March factory output fell a larger-than-expected 33.9 per cent from a year ago as electronics and drugs production slid amid weak export demand. Factory output fell a seasonally adjusted 13.9 per cent from February, the government said on Friday.
The figures were the largest declines in at least two years, with Standard Chartered economist Alvin Liew saying the year-on-year drop was the largest ever.
Electronics output contracted by 34.6 per cent in March compared to a year ago, while pharmaceuticals manufacturing shrank by 57.3 per cent.
The government revised up its January and February industrial production data, to -27.6 per cent and -15.1 per cent respectively from a year earlier.
'Even with the dire outcome for Friday's March industrial production data, we may yet see a small upward revision of the preliminary -11.5 per cent year-on-year Q1 2009 GDP contraction, by maybe 0.1 to 0.5 percentage points, on the basis of improved February industrial production data,' said Mr Liew.
Singapore exports the bulk of its manufactured products and manufacturing accounts for about one quarter of the economy.
Its exports fell 17 per cent in March from a year earlier, slightly better than a fall of 24 per cent in February.
That and a record contraction in gross domestic product in the first quarter prompted the central bank to ease monetary policy to help the trade-dependent economy through the financial crisis. .
The government expects the economy to shrink 6-9 per cent this year. -- REUTERS
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