Estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) of Singapore showed that the City-State’s economy grew 3.7 percent in 2013, much higher that the previous year’s 1.3 percent growth.

MTI’s press release issued on January 2 said that the Singapore economy grew by 4.4 percent on a year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter of 2013, compared to 5.9 percent in the previous quarter.

On a year-on-year basis, the manufacturing sector grew by 3.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, lower than the 5.3 percent growth in the preceding quarter. The moderation in growth was mainly due to a sharper contraction in biomedical manufacturing output and a slower pace of growth in transport engineering output. For the whole 2013, the sector grew 0.8 percent, higher than the 0.1 percent increase in 2012.

The construction sector grew by 4.7 percent year-on-year, moderating from the 5.8 percent growth in the previous quarter. The slowdown was primarily due to a moderation in the growth of private sector construction activities. The sector grew 5.5 percent in 2013, lower than the 8.2 increase in 2012.

The services producing industries saw a year-on-year growth of 5.5 percent, easing slightly from 6.5 percent in the preceding quarter. This was largely due to slower expansions in the wholesale and retail trade and finance and insurance sectors. In the whole 2013, services producing industries grew 5.1 percent, much higher than the 1.2 percent growth in 2012.

MTI also predicted this year’s GDP growth from 2 percent to 4 percent.-VNA