Jump in pharma exports lifts Singapore NODX in April

Singapore

ECONOMISTS appear mixed on how Singapore's exports will continue to perform in the coming months, even though April's data posted a third straight month of expansion thanks to a surge in pharmaceuticals amid the pandemic.

Non-oil domestic exports rose 9.7 per cent year-on-year in April, according to data from Enterprise Singapore (ESG) on Monday, easing from March's 17.6 per cent expansion.

The growth in April's NODX again took private-sector economists by surprise, as they had predicted a 5 per cent decline, according to a Bloomberg poll.

Maybank economists believe the encouraging exports data for March and April suggests that the manufacturing sector may escape recession.

"The 'circuit-breaker' measures may be sparing manufacturing and exports from the full brunt of the lockdown, as they are largely regarded as 'essential services'," Maybank economists Chua Hak Bin and Lee Ju Ye said …