Singapore’s economy returned to growth in the third quarter, averting a recession while showing the fragility of post-pandemic prospects as the world outlook darkens.

Gross domestic product in the three months through September rose 1.5% from the previous quarter, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a statement Friday. That’s faster than the median estimate for a 0.7% expansion in a Bloomberg survey.

On a year-on-year basis, the economy expanded 4.4% after a revised 4.5% growth in the previous quarter. Survey respondents had predicted a 3.5% growth.

The trade-reliant city-state, which leaned on its financial services industry for growth support during the pandemic, is now seeing recovery in more sectors including food and beverage and hospitality after a full post-Covid reopening.

Even so, Singapore’s exposure to the global economy means slowdowns in China and Europe, the Federal Reserve-led interest-rate hikes, and supply-chain bottlenecks pose growth risks.

Officials convening in Washington this week for meetings organized by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have painted a bleaker picture of the global outlook, with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva predicting one-third of the world economy will see recession this year and the next. She warned that global output could decline by $4 trillion through 2026 -- roughly the size of the German economy.

In August, the MTI narrowed the full-year projection to a range of 3%-4% from a 3%-5% prior estimate.

Source:
courtesy of BLOOMBERG

by Michelle Jamrisko

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