Singapore’s exports expanded for the first time in nine months in December last year. The city-state’s non-oil domestic exports made a surprise rebound with 2.4 percent increase year-on-year, Business Times reported.
Its total trade grew by 0.7 percent last December from a 5.9 percent decrease in the previous month. Private-sector economists in a Bloomberg poll anticipated Singapore exports to decline 1 percent. Also, economists in a Reuters poll predicted 1.8 percent decline in exports.
According to Enterprise Singapore data, the numbers have positively changed with stronger exports of non-monetary gold, pharmaceuticals and specialised machinery. The city-state is a prominent player in gold trade in the region.
The export rise was fuelled by 34.7 percent on year increase in pharmaceutical shipments. However, electronics shipment contracted 21.3 percent after a 23.3 percent decline last November, media reports said. The current stabilisation in the global economy is a positive sign for export-driven economies such as Singapore.
Enterprise Singapore is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Enterprise Singapore in a report said that, “On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, non-oil domestic exports (NODX) increased by 1.1 per cent in December 2019, extending the previous month’s 5.8 per cent growth. ”Singapore’s seasonally adjusted export values reached $14.3 billion, while unadjusted exports hit $14.1 billion.
Singapore’s economy significantly slowed down in a decade last year. Its exports were largely affected by the escalating trade war between the US and China. Now Singapore’s exports are expected to perform well this year.