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Singapore
AsiaSoutheast Asia

Singapore fends off recession as economy grows in third quarter

  • The Ministry of Trade and Industry said GDP was up 4.4 per cent in July-September on a year-on-year basis
  • The city state’s central bank also tightened monetary policy settings to keep up its fight against inflation

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Singapore’s GDP in the three months through September rose 1.5 per cent from the previous quarter. File photo: AFP
Bloomberg
Singapore’s economy returned to growth in the third quarter, averting a recession while showing the fragility of post-pandemic prospects as the world outlook darkens.

Gross domestic product in the three months through September rose 1.5 per cent from the previous quarter, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said in a statement on Friday. That’s faster than the median estimate for a 0.7 per cent expansion in a Bloomberg survey.

On a year-on-year basis, the economy expanded 4.4 per cent after a revised 4.5 per cent growth in the previous quarter. Survey respondents had predicted a 3.5 per cent growth.

The trade-reliant city state, which leaned on its financial services industry for growth support during the pandemic, is now seeing recovery in more sectors including food and drink and hospitality after a full post-Covid reopening.

Meanwhile, Singapore’s central bank tightened monetary policy settings to keep up its fight against inflation.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore, which uses the exchange rate of the local dollar as its main policy tool, recentered the midpoint of the currency’s policy band up to its prevailing level, according to a statement on Friday. That will allow the Singapore dollar to strengthen, and in turn keep global shocks from feeding into local prices.

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