Singapore's non‐oil domestic exports (NODX) dipped year‐on‐ year for a second straight month in March, but the latest drop was not as deep as in February ‐ and less than expected.

The pace of export growth is in fact picking up as the NODX rose from February to March and non‐oil retained imports of intermediate goods, a leading indicator, edged up from the previous month.

Buoyed by the better‐  than‐expected trade numbers released yesterday by government trade‐promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore, economists are now seeing a NODX recovery around the corner.

Some even see an upward revision in the official estimates for the gross domestic product in the first quarter, which show the GDP fell 0.6 per cent year‐on‐year.

Quarter‐on‐quarter, the GDP was tipped to be down by a seasonally adjusted and annualised 1.4 per cent.
The NODX fell 4.8 per cent year‐on‐yearlast month, against the 30.6 per cent tumble in February and market forecast of a 5.4 per cent drop.

IE Singapore said last month's fall was due to a decrease in the electronic NODX, which outweighed the increase in the non‐electronic NODX.

Domestic electronic shipments fell 17.9 per cent, easing from the 27.4 per cent plunge in February. Non‐electronic exports bounced back froma 32.1 per cent drop to post a 2.3 per cent gain in March. Except for Japan and China, Singapore's domestic exports to all its top 10 markets declined last month. The European Union, Malaysia and the United States were the biggest contributors to the poor showing.

Source: AmFraser