Singapore economy: leaders ease recession fears as US-China trade war bites
- Deputy prime minister Heng Swee Keat and the trade and industry minister have both emphatically underlined the island nation’s economic strength
- But analysts say its crucial manufacturing sector, hit by the tariff tiff between Washington and Beijing, is likely to stay weak in 2019
But deputy prime minister Heng Swee Keat wrote on Facebook that the government was “not expecting a full-year recession at this point”, and said instead that there remained “areas of strength” in the entrepot economy.
[Singapore is] not expecting a full-year recession at this point
The gloomy growth figures were even slower than the 1.2 per cent on-year growth recorded in the year’s first quarter, the previous low point for the past 10 years.
Heng, also finance minister, said the data reflected “heightened uncertainties and risks in the global economy, especially with the US-China trade relations”.
If that was not emphatic enough, trade and industry minister Chan Chun Sing also saw fit to weigh in. Also writing on Facebook, he said the steady pipeline of foreign direct investment this year gave confidence to the government that it was on the right track.
“Companies looking for a stable political environment, pro-business ecosystem, skilled workforce, progressive regulations, superior connectivity and rule of law, still see Singapore as an attractive destination,” Chan said.
Heng is the designated successor to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is poised to step down after the country’s impending elections. Chan is widely seen as the island nation’s next No 2 leader.
Few among the analysts who spoke to This Week in Asia struck a similar upbeat note.