Singapore's export growth accelerated more than expected in March on higher non-electronic shipments, data from the International Enterprise Singapore revealed Monday.
Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) grew 10 percent year-on-year, following the 6.9 percent rise in February. Economists had expected the growth rate to ease to 4.5 percent.
Exports to all the 10 top markets, except China, the EU 27, the US and Taiwan, decreased in March, while shipments to emerging markets surged 95 percent. At the same time, exports to Japan were down 6.9 percent.
Singapore is among the least vulnerable nations to slowdown in demand from Japan, noted ING Bank NV's Prakash Sakpal.
On a monthly comparison, NODX fell 2.9 percent in March, offsetting previous month's 2 percent growth.
While shipment of electronic goods recorded an annual fall of 14 percent after the 13 percent decrease in February, growth in non-electronic exports rose to 25 percent from 18 percent. The increase in non-electronic exports was led by ships and boats, specialised machinery and primary chemicals.
Due to a decline in non-electronic re-exports, overall non-oil re-exports (NORX) fell 2.1 percent month-on-month. But it was slower than the 4.2 percent decrease seen in the previous month. Annually, NORX grew only 2.6 percent after the 6.8 percent expansion recorded in February.
In March, electronic NORX rose by 0.3 percent from the prior year and non-electronic re-exports climbed by 5.4 percent.
According to advance estimates of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the city-state economy expanded at an accelerated pace of 23.5 percent sequentially in the first quarter, led by robust manufacturing activity.
However, on an annual basis, gross domestic product growth eased to 8.5 percent. The central bank forecasts GDP growth for the year as a whole to be at the upper end of the 4-6 percent forecast range.
Last week, the central bank had tightened its monetary policy for the third time in a row, stepping up its fight against inflation, which is expected to remain elevated on the back of high global commodity prices.
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