Singapore economy may have grown 1.1% in 4Q12

It's worse than expectations.

According to OCBC, advance estimates from the MTI says the Singapore economy grew by 1.1% YoY in 4Q12, worse than the street’s expectations of a 1.4% growth but better than the zero growth seen in 3Q12.

Here's more from OCBC:

On a seasonally-adjusted annualized basis, the economy expanded by 1.8% QoQ, compared  to the 6.3% contraction in 3Q12. Manufacturing contracted by 10.8% QoQ, extending the 9.9% decline in 3Q12, largely due to continued weakness in the electronics cluster.

Construction also contracted by 8.9% from 3Q12’s 17.4% negative growth with lower private sector building activity. Services, however, grew by 7.0% QoQ, reversing the 3.9% fall in 3Q12.

This was mainly due to a rebound in the wholesale & retail trade, finance and insurance sectors. All these factors brought 2012 growth to 1.2%, lower than MTI’s growth forecast of 1.5%. For 2013, the official growth forecast is 1.0-3.0%, but key risks include the fiscal cutback in the US and the Eurozone debt crisis.