Singapore's third quarter GDP up 1.7%

The Singapore economy rebounded from the second quarter to grow by 1.7 percent in the third quarter of 2003, according to figures released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Monday.

On an annualised quarter-on-quarter basis, real GDP accelerated by 17.3 percent, compared with a 9.8 percent contraction in the previous quarter.

The Ministry said total demand picked up by 4.6 percent during the third quarter compared with a 1.9 percent contraction in the previous quarter.

This reflected stronger external demand as well as a smaller fall in domestic demand.

External demand went up by 9.2 percent on stronger exports of electronics and biomedical products.

Picking up was the manufacturing sector, which recorded a return to growth of 3.3 percent from a 7.1 percent slide in the previous quarter.

The retail sector also improved by 8.4 percent, reflected by increased overseas travel and stronger vehicle sales.

Hotels and restaurants registered a fall of 9.7 percent in the third quarter compared with a 29.5 percent decline in the previous quarter.

Construction still remained weak, slipping 9.1 percent due to a steeper drop in new contracts awarded.

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