Singapore's economy in the first quarter grew at the slowest pace in almost 10 years, having increased by 1.2% compared to the same period last year. In the previous quarter, GDP growth was at 1.7%. The Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore estimates that such a significant slowdown is due to a decline in production due to ongoing trade disputes between the United States and China. Relative to the fourth quarter of 2018, when growth was at the level of 0.8%, the economy in the first three months of the current year increased by 3.8%, taking into account seasonal factors. In the construction sector, which in the previous 10 quarters showed a decrease, an annual increase of 2.9% was recorded. Compared with the fourth quarter, the figure increased by 14%. Production output fell by 0.5% for the year and by 7.1% for the quarter. The Singapore authorities have lowered the upper limit of GDP growth forecast for 2019 from 3.5% to 2.5%, while keeping the lower limit at 1.5%.
On Friday, Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) announced a lower second-quarter profit because of the recession caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The decline was due to lower sales volume and changes in dealer inventories. During the second quarter ...
On Thursday, the United States’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP) suffered the biggest economic decline in the second quarter as the surge of coronavirus cases affected the whole country. The U.S. government decided to shut down restaurants, ...
Thailand's finance ministry on Thursday cut back its 2020 economic forecast to a record 8.5% contraction in GDP. This is a substantial contrast from a 2.8% growth it expected in January as the COVID-19 situation continued to worsen. The ministry’s ...
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd looks forward to the second half of the year as it expects a larger increase in chip demand brought by new smartphone launches. However, the company warned that the coronavirus crisis and trade disputes carry risks. Samsung, ...
The second quarter had seen Australian consumer prices dropping by a record. This could be attributed to the coronavirus crisis dragging child care cost and petroleum prices, inflicting a serious damage to years of growth toward higher inflation. Last ...