Singapore’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI), an early indicator of manufacturing activity, decreased 0.1 point from the previous month to 49.9 in September.
This was the first contraction of the overall manufacturing PMI after 26 consecutive months of expansion, the Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management (SIPMM), which publishes the PMI on a monthly basis, announced on October 3.
The PMI of the electronics sector, which accounts for 40% of Singapore’s industrial output, decreased by 0.2 point from August to 49.4 in September. This is the second month of contraction for this sector.
Chua Hak Bin, head of research at Maybank, said that the contraction in electronics manufacturing on the back of slumping global demand will depress Singapore’s economic growth.
He said the upcoming third-quarter GDP estimate by the Ministry of Trade and Industry may show Singapore’s GDP growth shrank 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, after a 0.2% contraction in the second quarter./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency