Singapore's non-oil domestic exports down 15 pct in October
17/11/2008 17:20
Singapore's key non-oil domestic exports (NODX) fell 15 percent in
October, following the 5.7 percent decrease in September, due to the continued
fall in electronics and pharmaceuticals exports to the United States and Europe,
the government data showed today.
On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted
basis, non-oil domestic exports fell 7.4 percent in October, following the
previous month' s 0.9 percent decrease, said International Enterprise Singapore
( IE Singapore), the trade-promotion agency, in its monthly
report.
Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced yesterday that
the government will bring forward its budget announcement, help small and
medium-sized companies obtain financing and provide training for retrenched
workers amid the global economic slowdown. The city-state's economy fell into
its first recession in the third quarter since 2002.
Singapore's non-oil
domestic exports to most of the top 10 markets fell in October, except to
Indonesia. The shipments to the EU declined by 14 percent over a year ago, while
that to the United States fell 31 percent.
The NODX to China contracted by 9
percent in October, compared to the previous month's 11 percent
expansion.
According to the data, electronics shipments slipped 15 percent in
October from a year earlier, the 21st consecutive drop, following a 10.7 percent
decline in September.
Singapore's semiconductor shipments fell 7.3 percent
from a year earlier in October, while non-electronics shipments, which include
petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, fell 15.5 percent in October from a year
earlier. Pharmaceutical shipments plunged 38.9 percent last month.
Total
trade declined 0.2 percent in October to 78 billion Singapore dollars (about
US$51.7 billion), following the 18 percent growth in September.
The Singapore
economy is heavily dependent on trade, and non- oil domestic exports, which were
worth about 70 percent of the country' s gross domestic product last
year.
Xinhua
|
