(Aug 5): Singapore has turned out to be the canary in a coal mine and an unwitting casualty of the simmering trade tensions between the US and China. The city state is experiencing a slowing economy, with GDP growth declining from 1.1% in 1Q2019 to an advance estimate of 0.1% for 2Q2019, according to data released by the Trade and Industry Ministry (MTI) last month.
Market watchers expect this trend to continue in 2H2019, especially with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cutting its full-year growth forecast for Singapore to 2%, down from the 2.3% it had announced previously. Meanwhile, the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) has also revised downwards its full-year GDP forecast for Singapore, from the 2.5% it predicted in May to 1.3%.
Singapore is not the only country in this situation. Its fellow ASEAN+3 countries are also suffering from global economic uncertainties, leading AMRO to cut its GDP forecast for the region to 4.9%, down from its 5.1% projection in May.
