Singapore’s economy contracted by 2.2% in the first quarter from a year ago, official preliminary data showed, and authorities further downgraded their GDP forecast for 2020 as countries around the world battle the coronavirus outbreak.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a Thursday statement that the Singapore economy is now expected to shrink by between 1.0% and 4.0% this year. That’s worse than its forecast last month for a change of between -0.5% and 1.5% in annual gross domestic product.
The ministry said the downgrade in economic forecast took into account “the weaker-than-expected performance of the Singapore economy in the first quarter, and the sharp deterioration in the external and domestic economic environment since February.”
“The wider forecast range is to account for heightened uncertainties in the global economy, given the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 outbreak, including the public health measures taken in many countries to contain the outbreak,” it said in the statement.
COVID-19 is the official name of the coronavirus disease that has infected more than 440,000 people across 196 countries and territories, according to World Health Organization data. There have been over 21,000 deaths attributed to the virus globally, WHO data showed.
(CNBC)
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