Singapore Gloom

Singapore is in the midst of a serious downturn. The economy shrank by 19.7% in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the previous three months. Its biggest ever quarterly contraction.

The economy has shrunk by 11.5% compared with the same period a year ago. The government is expecting GDP to contract by between 6% and 9% this year.

Singapore has been particularly hard hit by falling export demand (export demand fell by 17% in March of this year). Manufacturing output fell by 29% in the first three months of this year.

Quick recovery seems a distant possibility as the majority of Singapore’s trading partners are also in recession. Earlier this year the government announced an £8.6bn stimulus package to boost economic activity.