As the world leaves the worst of inflation behind, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) warned of more pain in the new year from slowing economic growth.
“We must brace ourselves for the uncertainties ahead,” Lee said on Saturday in his New Year’s Eve message to Singaporeans, referring to a troubled international outlook. “Our economy will be affected.”
Trade-reliant Singapore expects to grow 3.5 percent last year, and Lee sees the pace decelerating 0.5 percent to 2.5 percent this year as many economies head toward a recession.
Photo: Bloomberg
Singapore’s government predicts that exports, which are more than one-and-a-half times the island’s GDP, to decline 2 percent this year in the worst-case scenario and to post zero growth in the best case.
Although China’s reopening could support commerce in Singapore, any gains might be offset by a decline in demand from other markets.
China is the city-state’s top goods trading partner, while the US is the third-biggest as of 2021.
Lee flagged the Russian invasion of Ukraine and US-China tensions as adding to the risks.
Singapore would take a cautious approach in increasing airline seat capacity as travel from China is restored, while holding back from joining others that have imposed tighter travel restrictions on visitors from the country, the Singaporean Ministry of Health said on Friday.
“How quickly China recovers from COVID-19 remains to be seen, while the US and the EU may well enter recession,” Lee said on Saturday, referring to the EU also staring at a downturn amid tight monetary conditions to fight price pressures.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore, which tightened policy five times since October 2021 to tame inflation, could leave its exchange rate settings unchanged at its next scheduled meeting in April to support the economy, Bloomberg Economics said.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
CHANGING JAPAN: Nvidia-powered AI services over cellular networks ‘will result in an artificial intelligence grid that runs across Japan,’ Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said Softbank Group Corp would be the first to build a supercomputer with chips using Nvidia Corp’s new Blackwell design, a demonstration of the Japanese company’s ambitions to catch up on artificial intelligence (AI). The group’s telecom unit, Softbank Corp, plans to build Japan’s most powerful AI supercomputer to support local services, it said. That computer would be based on Nvidia’s DGX B200 product, which combines computer processors with so-called AI accelerator chips. A follow-up effort will feature Grace Blackwell, a more advanced version, the company said. The announcement indicates that Softbank Group, which until early 2019 owned 4.9 percent of Nvidia, has secured a
RSS