26.04.201903:08:00UTC+00Singapore Manufacturing Output Fell For First Time In 15 Months

Singapore's industrial production decreased for the first time in fifteen months during March, preliminary data from the Economic Development Board showed on Friday.

Manufacturing output dropped 4.8 percent year-on-year following a 2.6 percent increase in February. Economists had forecast a 4.6 percent fall.

The latest decline was the first since December, when production fell 2.4 percent.

On a month-on-month basis, factory output decreased for a second straight month, down a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in March after a 3.8 percent slump in the previous month.

Excluding bio-medical manufacturing, output fell 8.7 percent from a year ago and 2.6 percent from the previous month.

The bio-medical manufacturing, general manufacturing and transport engineering logged output growth, while the rest of the manufacturing clusters contracted.

Electronics output declined 15.3 percent and precision engineering production fell 18.3 percent. Bio-medical manufacturing increased 13.7 percent.