Metro
Lockdown leads to second-quarter services slump in Singapore
Singapore’s services industries on Thursday fell by over 13 per cent year-on-year, according to official estimates published.
The Department of Statistics said that an April-June lockdown imposed to try containing the local spread of the novel coronavirus led to the disruption of most business activities.
The lockdown came into force on April 7, after a surge in coronavirus cases among migrant workers.
Business receipts in the recreation and personal sub-sector, which covers arts, entertainment, gyms and religious worship, fell by over 70 per cent.
Transport was down 23.3 per cent, reflecting the collapse in international travel as countries closed borders and airlines cancelled flights in response to the pandemic.
The services slump came during a three-month period that saw Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), shrink a record 13.2 per cent.
The government pledged to throw the equivalent of a fifth of its GDP at offsetting the impact of the restrictions on Singapore, a regional investment and transit hub.
However, there were signs that the economy was starting to recover from the second-quarter collapse, when exports fell over 15 per cent year-on-year and retail sales plunged a record 52 per cent in May.
Meanwhile, exports increased 6 per cent in July, and official figures released on Wednesday showed manufacturing up 1.6 per cent same month.
Largely closed to visitors since March, Singapore has in recent weeks sought to re-open essential travel links with neighbours Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand.
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