Singapore's non-oil domestic exports down 14 pct in August
17/9/2008 17:06
Singapore's key non-oil domestic exports (NODX) fell 14 percent in August
from a year earlier, following the 5.8 percent decline in July, government data
showed today.
The decline was due mainly to the continued fall in electronics
exports to the United States, Europe and Malaysia, said International Enterprise
Singapore (IE Singapore), the trade- promotion agency, in its monthly
report.
"While NODX to Indonesia grew, that to the rest of the top 10 NODX
markets shrank in August 2008. The largest contributors to the NODX contraction
were the EU 27, the US and Malaysia," said IE Singapore.
Non-oil domestic
exports to the United States, which is Singapore's largest export market, fell
30 percent in August over a year ago, following a 33 percent decline in
July.
NODX to the EU, Malaysia and China declined by 27 percent, 17 percent
and 13 percent respectively in the month.
August's electronics exports fell
19.4 percent from a year ago, while drugs exports dropped 45.2 percent in the
same period. Petrochemicals fell 9.6 percent.
On a seasonally adjusted basis,
non-oil domestic exports rose a slightly better-than-expected 2 percent on-month
in August, compared to the 2.3 percent decline in the previous month.
Total
trade rose 10 percent in August to 80 billion Singapore dollars (about US$56
billion), following the strong expansion of 21 percent in July.
The Singapore
economy is heavily dependent on trade, and non- oil domestic exports, which were
worth about 75 percent of the country's gross domestic product last year.
The
collapse of Lehman Brothers, among other dramatic developments in the US
financial industry this week, has created new uncertainties for Singapore's
economy, Singapore's Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said yesterday at
the Parliament.
Xinhua
|
