SINGAPORE, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Enterprise Singapore, a government agency, announced on Tuesday in the Review of First Quarter 2021 Trade Performance that it adjusted the 2021 growth projection upwards to 5-7 percent for Singapore's total merchandise trade.
Meanwhile, it lifted the 2021 growth projection for Singapore's Non-oil Domestic Exports (NODX) to 1-3 percent.
In February, the government agency set the 2021 growth projections for Singapore's total merchandise trade and NODX at 2-4 percent and 0-2 percent respectively.
The upwards adjustments were due to better-than-expected total merchandize trade and NODX performances in the first quarter of 2021, and oil price improving since February that may provide some support for the oil trade in nominal terms and in turn total trade in 2021.
According to Enterprise Singapore, the city-state's total merchandise trade grew by 4.9 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2021, to 267.4 billion Singapore dollars (about 201.46 billion US dollars), which declined by 5.1 percent year on year in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Meanwhile, Singapore's NODX grew by 9.7 percent in the first quarter of this year, compared to the 0.5 percent decline in the previous quarter.
Enterprise Singapore added that Singapore's total services trade contracted by 10.1 percent year on year to 123 billion Singapore dollars in the first quarter of 2021, after the 16.3 percent contraction in the previous quarter. The services exports and imports contracted by 7.8 percent and 12.4 percent respectively. Enditem
