Minister of Trade Lim Hng Kiang was caught playing with words in Parliament yesterday (Oct 10) claiming that there is no recession in Singapore, but only “some quarters of negative growth”:
“Our baseline projection is not an outright recession, but we cannot rule out the possibility that the economy will experience some quarters of negative growth on a quarter-on-quarter basis.”
Despite rising unemployment rate and negative GDP reports, the Trade Minister refuse to use the word “recession” and rather call the economic situation “fluid”.
Minister Lim Hng Kiang then blame external factors like China, UK, Europe and low oil prices for Singapore’s rising unemployment rate and worsening economy:
“As a small, open economy, Singapore’s growth prospects are affected by developments in our external environment. Global growth has been weaker than expected since the global financial crisis, and that the International Monetary Fund has downgraded its global growth forecast almost every year.the global economic outlook in the near term was expected to “remain weak”.
Investment demand in key advanced economies remains sluggish while China’s growth continues to moderate as it restructures its economy. Low oil prices have also affected the growth prospects of oil exporters, including those in the region. At the same time, global trade flows have been weak, in part due to sluggish global growth as well as in-sourcing trends in economies like China. More recently, the UK’s vote in June to leave the European Union has dampened and added uncertainty to the global growth outlook.”