10 October 2007 0813 hrs (SST)
SINGAPORE: Singapore's economy powered to 9.4 per cent growth in the third quarter, within market forecasts, putting it on track to meet the government's full-year targets, the trade ministry said on Wednesday.
Gross domestic product grew 9.4 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier, the ministry said. That followed a revised 8.7 per cent expansion in GDP during the second quarter, it said.
Economists were expecting third-quarter growth of between nine and ten per cent.
On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualised basis, real GDP growth slowed to 6.4 per cent from 14.4 per cent in the second quarter, the trade ministry said.
"The Singapore economy continued to register strong growth in the third quarter of 2007," it said in a press release, adding the economy "is well on track" to meet full-year growth targets.
In August, the government raised its full-year growth target to between 7.0 and 8.0 per cent after better-than-expected second-quarter expansion.
The trade ministry said third-quarter growth in the manufacturing sector reached an estimated 12.3 per cent, up from 8.3 per cent in the preceding quarter. It said manufacturing growth was underpinned by the biomedical sector and transport engineering, which includes oil rigs and ships.
Growth in the construction sector is estimated to have eased to 15.5 per cent compared with 18.8 per cent last quarter, while the services sector expanded an estimated 8.1 per cent, against 8.4 per cent in the second quarter, MTI said.
Action Economics chief economist David Cohen said there was some moderation from the second quarter but year-on-year growth picked up. "It's still a solid growth," he said.
Singapore is undergoing a property and construction boom, with cranes towering over the skyline.
The positive outlook for both the construction and manufacturing sectors could push the city-state's GDP expansion above the government's official targets, to 8.3 per cent for the year, Cohen said.
Despite a recent crisis in the US "sub-prime" mortgage sector and fears of a slowing US economy, Cohen said the third-quarter data reflected continued momentum in Singapore.
Song Seng Wun, regional economist at CIMB-GK securities, said on local radio that he expects the third-quarter GDP figures to be revised up towards ten per cent, and full-year growth could be close to nine per cent.
The latest figures are advance estimates for real GDP -- growth adjusted for inflation -- and computed largely from July and August data. More detailed figures are to be released in November.
GDP is the value of all goods and services produced in the country.
Singapore's economy grew 7.9 per cent last year, one of the fastest rates in Asia. - AFP/ac
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