SINGAPORE: Singapore’s economy beat expectation ns to grow at its fastest pace in nearly four years during the third quarter, data showed on Thursday, boosted by a surge in global demand that has buoyed Asia in the face of brewing protectionist fears.

The forecast-beating performance for the island-state follows similarly strong readings from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan, all of which have benefited from a pick-up in world trade.

The trade ministry said the economy expanded 5.2 per cent on-year in July-September, accelerating from 2.9pc in the previous three months and the fastest rate since the fourth quarter of 2013.

It also beat the 5.0 predicted in a Bloomberg News survey.

The improvement came as the key manufacturing sector, a key pillar of the trade-dependent economy, expanded 18.4pc, from 8.4pc growth in the preceding quarter. The government raised its full-year growth forecast for this year to 3.0-3.5pc from the previous projection of 2.0-3.0pc.

“In line with stronger demand conditions, the Singapore economy performed better in the third quarter,” the ministry said in a statement.

It said growth outlook for major export markets such as the United States, eurozone, China and Southeast Asia had improved along with a stronger recovery in global electronics demand.

The latest data “adds Singapore to the list of Asian countries that have recently reported better economic growth numbers”, United Overseas Bank (UOB) said in a commentary.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2017