Singapore exports rebound in Feb, but economists not cheering yet

Singapore

ECONOMISTS cautioned on Monday that Singapore's exports are not out of the woods yet, even as shipments defied expectations to rebound in February after three straight months of decline.

Last month's positive export figures was mostly due to a favourable base effect, and not a signal that the worst is over on the trade front, they said.

Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) swung back into the black in February with a surprise growth of 4.9 per cent, reversing from a 10.1 per cent fall in January, which was the biggest drop since October 2016. This also comes in above economist projections of a 1.6 per cent contraction.

On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, Nodx expanded by a whopping 16 per cent …