According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), Singapore’s GDP figure plummeted 4% in the second quarter of 2015. The Singapore Government has also lowered their GDP growth forecast from 2-4% to 2-2.5% because of the disappointing result.
Citing a weak global economy as the key excuse, the MTI said that the decline is only temporary and will pick up for the rest of 2015:
“The global economy performed weaker than expected in the first half of 2015. For the rest of the year, global growth is expected to pick up gradually, although the pace of growth is likely to be uneven across economies. In particular, the advanced economies are expected to see a gradual pick-up in growth, while the growth outlook of regional economies has generally softened.”
Photo from cna
The Singapore currency has also weaken to a 5-year low against the US dollars and is now trading at S$1.40 per USD. Like other Asian currencies, the Singapore Dollar (SGD) tumbled because China is attempting to save its crashing stock market by increasing money supply which devalued the yuan as a result. The Shanghai stock index has crashed more than 25% since its peak in June.