Singapore's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) slipped to 49.6 in June, down 0.3 point from the previous month. (Photo: AFP) Hanoi (VNA) – Singapore’s manufacturing growth slowed again in June 2019, according to the Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management (SIPMM).
The sector also saw a decline in May 2019, the first time in more than two and half year.
Singapore's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a key barometer of activity in the manufacturing industry, slipped to 49.6 in June, down 0.3 point from the previous month.
The electronics sector PMI shrank for an eighth consecutive quarter, coming in at 49.2, which is 0.2 point lower than the previous month.
The weaker reading for manufacturing was due to first-time contractions in new orders, factory output, inventory and employment level, the SIPMM said in a statement on July 3.
Maybank Kim Eng economist Chua Hak Bin said PMI new orders are "leading indicators", and the contraction "suggests that the downturn will persist into the third quarter".
He forecast that the gross domestic product (GDP) growth of Singapore in 2019 will be at 1.3 percent, below the Government's current full-year GDP forecast of 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent.-VNA
VNA
