Singapore lowers 2015 growth forecast

Singapore's economic growth will dip to "close to 2.0 percent" this year after the city-state avoided a technical recession, the government said Wednesday, with a potential further slowdown seen in 2016.

The decline from a growth rate of 2.9 percent in 2014 reflects the impact on Asia of slowing demand for its exports from major world economies including the United States, China and Europe.

For 2016, trade-dependent Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow between 1.0 and 3.0 percent.

The latest forecast by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) is on the lower end of an earlier projection of 2.0-2.5 growth.

"Global economic conditions have remained sluggish, with full-year growth for 2015 likely to come in weaker than in 2014," MTI said in a statement.

It said growth was weighed down primarily by the weak performance of the manufacturing sector, which covers such big-ticket items as semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and oil rigs.

GDP for the third quarter ended September was up 1.9 percent year-on-year.

It was also up 1.9 percent quarter-on-quarter, reversing a contraction in the previous three months and allowing the economy to escape a technical recession.

"For the rest of the year, Singapore's GDP growth is expected to remain resilient amidst a challenging external environment," the ministry said.