SINGAPORE – Singapore’s key exports declined less sharply last month but economists said external demand is unlikely to pick up anytime soon because of the turmoil in the US banking sector and its spillover impact on other banks.
Non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) for February shrank 15.6 per cent from a year ago, after falling by 25 per cent in January and 20.6 per cent in December, data from Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) on Friday showed.
The number was close to forecasts from Bloomberg and Reuters – analysts polled were expecting Nodx to fall by 16 per cent year-on-year.
It is also the fifth straight month of year-on-year decline for Singapore’s key exports as both electronic and non-electronic shipments fell.
ANZ head of Asia research Khoon Goh said the timing of Chinese New Year had exaggerated the January weakness. Mr Goh added that goods exports remained very weak, with “Nodx now at its lowest levels since June 2019”.
Electronic products, which accounts for around a quarter of domestic exports, contracted another 26.5 per cent in February, a slight improvement from the 26.8 per cent slump in January.
Integrated circuits, disk media products and capacitors contributed the most to the fall in electronic shipments.