Special Report:Global Financial Crisis
SINGAPORE, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Singapore on Friday
further lowered its growth forecast of non-oil domestic exports (NODX) for this
year, saying it will fall 5 to 7 percent due to declining orders for electronic
goods and pharmaceuticals from the United States and Europe.
Growth of the key exports this year is expected to be between -7.0 to -5.0 percent, down 3 percentage points from the earlier projection of -4.0 to -2.0 percent, while that for next year is expected to between -1.0 to 1.0 percent, trade promotion agency IESingapore said in a statement.
It also said the overseas shipments are expected to remain relatively weak in the fourth quarter this year, as the spill-over effects from financial markets into the real economy have led to deceleration in world economic activity and slower consumption spending by advanced economies.
Singapore's total trade rose by 16 percent year-on-year to reach 253 billion Singapore dollars (166 billion U.S. dollars) in the third quarter of this year, led by an 81 percent expansion in oil trade.
IE Singapore said total trade in 2009 is expected to shrink between 8.0 and 6.0 percent, mainly due to lower projected oil prices in 2009 and a slowing down of global demand.
The city-state's 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. ¡¡
