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Singapore
manufacturers business outlook weakens
Reuters
31
Jan
08
http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080131/tap-singapore-economy-expectations-c3bb44c.html
Singapore
manufacturers are less positive about business prospects for the
next six months, reflecting concerns about inflation and global
economic growth, a government survey showed on
Thursday.
Overall, a net weighted 2 percent of
manufacturers said they expect business conditions to improve in
January to June, the state's Economic Development Board said in a
statement, sharply below the 25 percent in the previous survey
issued in October.
"The manufacturing sector is
cautious about business prospects in the first half of 2008,"
the trade agency said in its quarterly survey of business
expectations in the manufacturing sector.
Growth in most
Asian economies is likely to slow this year, dragged by a weaker
U.S. economy which is the region's top export market. "Across
the region we are seeing more caution. Expectations have shifted
to neutral from optimistic," said Ho Woei Chen, an economist
at United Overseas Bank. "If U.S. demand slows, it will
affect all export markets."
The survey showed that a
net weighted balance of only 1.0 percent of electronics
manufacturers expect business to improve in the six-month period,
a sharp deterioration from the 33 percent in the previous
survey.
Manufacturers expect the demand for electronic
goods to drop after the year-end holiday season amid rising
competition in the sector, the agency said.
Singapore's
export-driven economy unexpectedly shrank for the first time
since 2003 in the fourth quarter as manufacturing weakened on
slowing economic growth in the United States, the city-state's
top export market by country, preliminary estimates from the
government showed.
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