Singapore projects GDP growth to ease in 2023 amid global slowdown

Singapore

Singapore on Wednesday forecast its economic growth would slow to between 0.5% and 2.5% in 2023 from about 3.5% this year amid global economic pressures that would hit demand for the city-state's outward-oriented industries like trade and finance.

The 3.5% projection for 2022 was narrowed from an earlier range of 3% to 4% by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). The ministry said gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.1% year-on-year in the third quarter, below the 4.4% growth seen in the government's advance estimate.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, the economy grew 1.1% in the third quarter, compared with the government's advance estimate of 1.5% growth and the 0.1% contraction in the second quarter.

"For the rest of the year, the weaker external economic outlook will weigh on the growth of Singapore's outward-oriented sectors, including the electronics and chemicals clusters," MTI Permanent Secretary Gabriel Lim told reporters.

He said in 2023, GDP growth in most major global economies was expected to moderate further. Many central banks are raising interest rates to control inflation, China's zero-COVID policy is constraining consumption in the world's second-biggest economy and global supply chain disruptions are dragging on because of the Ukraine conflict.

Growth in the trade, finance and insurance sectors is expected to be hit by a slowdown in other major economies, Lim said of Singapore's 2023 outlook.