Its GDP rose 1.7% from the prior 3 months amid global trade risks and tighter financials

By BLOOMBERG

SINGAPORE • Singapore’s economy remained on solid footing in the first quarter (1Q), with the government expressing more certainty of a steady pace in 2018 as global trade risks and tightening financial conditions allow for a patient monetary policy.

Gross domestic product (GDP) rose at a seasonally adjusted, annualised rate of 1.7% from the prior three months, Trade Ministry said yesterday. Bloomberg survey median was 1.6%, while government’s previous projection was 1.4%. Its GDP expanded 4.4% in the 1Q from the same period in 2017, in line with median estimate.

The rate of expansion from a year earlier gave the Trade Ministry enough confidence to narrow its growth forecast for 2018 to 2.5% to 3.5%, from a prior range of 1.5% to 3.5%.

Manufacturing showed particular strength, while construction expanded on an annual basis for the first time in a year.

Steady growth that’s within the government’s forecast range, coupled with data earlier this week showing inflation comfortably within target, should support the central bank’s plans to gradually tighten monetary policy this year. The government remains on guard for negative effects stemming from US-China trade tensions and a global trend of rising interest rates.

“They already got their first tightening in, in April — I don’t think they’re going to be in a rush,” Selena Ling, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp in Singapore, said of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) officials.

She sees the chance of further tightening at the October MAS meeting versus a hold in the policy stance as around 50-50, with signs now that Japan and some key economies in Europe could be slowing down.

A surge in electronics demand underpinned the city state’s 3.6% expansion last year, but as the export boom starts to moderate, GDP growth is set to ease to a more sustainable pace. The Trade Ministry expects growth to broaden out to other sectors of the economy this year, even as construction continues to lag.

“On balance, the pace of growth in the Singapore economy is expected to remain firm in 2018, with growth supported primarily by outward- oriented sectors,” the Trade Ministry said in its statement.

Solid growth in electronics and precision engineering clusters, although more moderate this year, will help sustain manufacturing, it said.

While growth has been concentrated in export-related industries, it’s expected to broaden out to domestic-focused sectors this year, such as retail and food services, as the labour market improves, the ministry said. Construction will probably remain lacklustre, it said, “as the earlier weakness in construction demand, particularly from the private sector, is expected to continue to weigh on construction activities this year”.

Ri sing trade tensions between the US and China is among the biggest risks to global growth and exportreliant Singapore.