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Reuters

Singapore’s recession was deeper than first estimated in the second quarter as the coronavirus pandemic dealt a major blow to Asia’s trade-reliant economies.
The city state was under a lockdown for most of the second quarter to curb the spread of the virus.
Gross domestic product (GDP) fell 13.2 per cent year on year in the second quarter, revised government data showed on Tuesday, versus the 12.6 per cent drop seen in advance estimates.
The economy fell 42.9 per cent from the previous three months on an annualised and seasonally adjusted basis, compared with the government’s initial estimate of a 41.2 per cent contraction.
The data matched analyst expectations.
As pandemic batters Singapore’s economy, lost jobs threaten long-term pain
The government said it now expects full-year GDP to contract between 5 per cent and 7 per cent versus its previous forecast for a 4 per cent to 7 per cent decline.
The country is still facing the biggest downturn in its history.
“There continues to be significant uncertainty over how the Covid-19 situation will evolve in the coming quarters, and correspondingly, the trajectory of the economic recovery in both the global and domestic economies,” Gabriel Lim, permanent secretary for Trade and Industry, told a briefing.
“The outlook for the Singapore economy has weakened slightly since May.”

“The downgrade in second quarter and full-year GDP growth points to a slower and sluggish economic recovery,” said Chua Hak Bin, an economist at Maybank.
He said strict border controls, social distancing rules and foreign worker shortages will weigh on the pace of the recovery, even though lockdown measures have been relaxed.
The GDP slump marked the second consecutive quarter of contraction for the global finance hub – having declined 0.3 per cent year on year in the first quarter and 3.1 per cent quarter on quarter – meeting the definition for a technical recession.
‘It’s never been this bad’: Singapore shopping mecca buckles under virus
Singapore’s data comes as other large Asian economies such as Japan are also set to report a record contraction in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s exports extended double digit declines in the first week of August.
Economies were starting re-tighten measures after the fresh emergence of outbreaks, said Selena Ling, OCBC Bank’s head of treasury research and strategy.
“That is going to dampen, if not potentially kill off, any of the recovery hopes that people were looking forward to,” she said.
Singapore’s central bank had eased its monetary policy in March, while the government has pumped in nearly S$100 billion (US$72 billion) worth of stimulus to blunt the impact of the pandemic.



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Singapore

Singapore recession worse than thought as GDP falls 13.2 per cent in second quarter

Singapore expects full-year GDP to contract between 5 and 7 per cent as it faces the biggest downturn in its history due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: Bloomberg

epa08586803 A view of the Central Business District with the Fullerton Hotel, lit in red, during a National Day-themed light up in Singapore, 05 August 2020 (issued 06 August 2020). Major buildings and monuments in the civic district and Marina Bay area of Singapore will be lit every evening in red and white until 30 August as part of National Day celebrations. Singapore will celebrate the 55th anniversary of the nations independence on 09 August 2020. This year's parade will be held with spectators limited to 150, due to the coronavirus pandemic. EPA-EFE/HOW HWEE YOUNG

As coronavirus batters Singapore’s economy, lost jobs loom as long-term headache

Singaporean officer workers wearing masks leave a train station during the morning commute. Photo: Reuters

Caption: Philip Leong and his wife at their vegetarian bee hoon stall.

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An employee walks past a Temasek Holdings sign at the company's headquarters in Singapore in this August 2, 2007 file photo. Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings Pvt Ltd is seeking to sell its $3.1 billion stake in Thai telecom company Shin Corp, according to people familiar with the matter, and has approached its SingTel unit as a possible buyer. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/Files (SINGAPORE - Tags: BUSINESS TELECOMS)

Goh Chok Tong. Photo: Zakaria Zainal

A man wearing a face mask crosses the street in Singapore's Chinatown district on Tuesday, May 12, 2020. Singapore has allowed selected businesses such as traditional Chinese medicine medical halls, home-based establishments, food manufacturing, selected food retail outlets, laundry services, traditional barbers and pet supplies to reopen May 12 in a cautious rollback of a two-month partial lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections in the city-state. (AP Photo/YK Chan)

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Coronavirus: Singapore’s Q2 retrenchments spike, surpassing Sars levels

Singapore’s retrenchment and unemployment rates could worsen, analysts say. Photo: AFP

People eat at a table installed with plexiglass dividers at a food court in Singapore as the city state reopens the economy amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, June 19, 2020. REUTERS/Edgar Su

epa08464394 Commuters wearing protective face masks ride on a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) train in Singapore, 04 June 2020. Singapore has started to ease its circuit breaker measures against Covid-19 since 02 June and reopen the economy in phases. EPA-EFE/HOW HWEE YOUNG

Singapore Airlines braces for hefty losses in Q1 as global travel hit by coronavirus

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Singapore coronavirus cases to ‘taper down significantly’ as migrant workers’ testing ends

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A man with a child crosses a street in Singapore on June 23, 2020. - Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called a general election "like no other" on June 23 as the city-state struggles to recover from a major coronavirus outbreak that has swept through crowded migrant worker dormitories. (Photo by Roslan RAHMAN / AFP)

epa08386141 Migrant workers wearing protective masks walk along the corridor at the Kranji Lodge foreign worker dormitory in Singapore, 27 April 2020. The majority of Singapore's 14,423 confirmed cases of Covid-19 are migrant workers that live in worker dormitories. The dormitories are often packed and have unsanitary conditions. The Ministry of Health has various dormitories as isolation zones and moved healthy workers into separate facilities in order to quell the spread of the virus. EPA-EFE/WALLACE WOON

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Asia

Southeast Asia

Coronavirus

Economic Impact


The Ministry of Trade and Industry had expected a 12.6 per cent drop in second quarter GDP, and sees a 5 to 7 per cent contraction in full-year GDP
The economy fell 42.9 per cent from the previous three months on an annualised and seasonally adjusted basis, due to the coronavirus pandemic



The Ministry of Trade and Industry had expected a 12.6 per cent drop in second quarter GDP, and sees a 5 to 7 per cent contraction in full-year GDP.


Coronavirus Singapore