Singapore has cut its GDP growth forecast for 2020 citing fallout from the coronavirus as well as uncertainty over the US-China trade deal and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East potentially impacting commodity markets.
The city state has revised its 2020 growth estimate to -0.5 to 1.5 per cent, down from 0.5 to 2.5 per cent. It expects the economy to grow at about 0.5 per cent, a sharper revision than predicted by some economists. DBS and Maybank and had cut their 2020 GDP growth forecasts to 0.9 per cent and 1.1 per cent, respectively.
"In particular, the COVID-19 outbreak is expected to affect the Singapore economy through several channels," the ministry of trade and industry said in a statement, citing "outward-oriented" sectors such as wholesale trade and manufacturing being hit by weaker Chinese demand and supply chain disruptions.