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SINGAPORE - GROWTH in the fourth quarter moderated with gross domestic product (GDP) registering a 6 per cent expansion following a 9 per cent gain in the previous quarter, advance estimates from the Ministry of Trade and Industry showed on Wednesday.
On an annualised, seasonally adjusted basis, the economy grew 3.2 per cent in the fourth quarter, the first contraction since 2003, as weak manufacturing activity dragged on growth.
The rate compared with a revised 4.4 per cent expansion in the third quarter was the weakest performance for the Republic since the second quarter of 2003.
Manufacturing
The manufacturing sector's growth decelerated to 0.5 per cent from 10.3 per cent, largely due to a fall in the output of some drugs.
The transport engineering cluster did better, registering double-digit growth in the quarter.
The construction sector expanded strongly by 24.4 per cent on the heels of a 19.2 per cent growth a quarter earlier.
The services producing industries grew steadily at 8.3 per cent.
The financial services sector continued to grow rapidly while the wholesale and retail trade, transport and storage, and business services sectors performed better than the last quarter.
Full year growth
For the full year of 2007, the economy expanded by 7.5 per cent, slightly lower than the 7.9 per cent in 2006.
The 2007 growth is at the bottom end of the government's 7.5-8.0 per cent forecast, and below market forecasts for 8 per cent growth.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday that economic growth is expected to slow further to 4.5-6.5 per cent in 2008.
Asian economies are bracing for a slowdown in momentum in 2008 as a housing downturn takes its toll on the US economy - the region's top export market.
The advance estimate is based largely on data from October and November and gives an early indication of the economy's performance in the October to December period.
Growth in the manufacturing sector moderated to 5.6 per cent, down from 11.5 per cent in previous year.
Both the construction sector and services producing industries performed better than in 2006, with construction up 19.8 per cent and services 8.1 per cent higher.
The preliminary GDP estimates for the fourth quarter and the whole of 2007, including performance by sectors, sources of growth, inflation, employment and productivity, will be released next month in the Economic Survey of Singapore.
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