Chart of the Day: Check out how sluggish net external demand spoiled domestic demand surge

Imports are terribly outpacing exports.

What was an impressive showing by the city-state’s resilient domestic demand was all but nullified by a contraction in external demand, which receded by 59.6% qoq.

The unexpected upswing of the services sector mainly drove Singapore’s domestic demand, in tandem with the higher employment registered in 3Q15 at 16,400, according to a report by Maybank Kim Eng.

They add that while 4,300 workers were laid off in the manufacturing sector during the quarter, it was cancelled out by the 17,000 new employees in the services sector.

In contrast, Maybank Kim Eng says net external demand contracted by 11.2% yoy as growth in imports outran exports during the quarter.

Meanwhile, the report said that Singapore should experience smooth sailing towards a steady growth path in 2016.

“For the whole of 2015, we are looking at the economy to grow by +2.0% and the same growth momentum is expected to be sustained in 2016,” Maybank Kim Eng said.