SINGAPORE's economy grew 5.9 per cent year on year basis in the third quarter and full-year GDP growth is expected to rise five per cent, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).

    "Advance estimates showed that the Singapore economy grew by 5.9 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the third quarter of 2011, an improvement from the one per cent growth in the second quarter. On a seasonally-adjusted quarter-on-quarter annualised basis, the economy grew by 1.3 per cent, after contracting by 6.3 per cent in the previous quarter," said the government communique.

    "The improved economic performance in the third quarter was mainly due to a pick-up in growth in the biomedical manufacturing cluster. On a year-on-year basis, the manufacturing sector expanded by 13.2 per cent in the third quarter, after contracting by 5.8 per cent in the preceding quarter. On a seasonally-adjusted quarter-on-quarter annualised basis, the sector grew by 8.9 per cent, reversing from the 23.7 per cent decline in the preceding quarter.

    The advance GDP estimates for the third quarter of 2011 are computed largely from data in the first two months of the quarter (July and August). They are intended as an early indication of the GDP growth in the quarter, and are subject to revision when more comprehensive statistics become available.

    The ministry said it would release the preliminary GDP estimates for the third quarter in November 2011, including performance by sectors, sources of growth, inflation, employment and productivity, in its Economic Survey of Singapore.

(source:http://www.shippingonline.cn/news/newsList.asp?classname=News)