Singapore July Exports Rise 0.5%

Source : AsiaOne News, Fri, Aug 17, 2007

SINGAPORE, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Singapore's non-oil exports rose less than expected in July, climbing a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent from June, data showed on Friday.

July's rise compared with market expectations for a 1.3 percent rise, and followed a disappointing 2.9 percent increase in June, which prompted the export-dependent city-state's government to cut its 2007 growth forecast for non-oil domestic exports to 4-6 percent from 7-9 percent.

Non-oil exports in July rose a faster-than-expected 5.5 percent from a year earlier to S$14.5 billion ($9.5 billion), trade agency International Enterprise Singapore said in a statement. That compared with a 1.2 percent rise in June, and with a median forecast in a Reuters poll for annual increase of 3.2 percent.

Economists had forecast that higher exports of drugs and offshore oil rigs in July offset sluggish electronics exports, which make up around 40 percent of Singapore's non-oil exports.

July's electronics shipments fell for the sixth month in a row, down 10.6 percent from a year ago, while drugs exports rose 45.3 percent in the same period. Petrochemicals climbed 1.0 percent.

Singapore's non-oil domestic exports, which comprise of goods that have been manufactured in Singapore or undergone further processing, include mobile phones, medical instruments, and active ingredients for some blockbuster drugs.