Singapore IP to have contracted in January-February

Singapore will release February industrial production (IP) data on 26 March.

Standard Chartered says...

• We expect IP to have fallen 5.4% y/y, following a 0.9% increase in January; this translates into a 2.2% y/y drop in January-February owing to an unfavourable base effect, as IP grew 8% y/y in the same period last year. 
  
  
• Production growth likely remained lacklustre across many sectors, including electronics, chemicals, and transport engineering.
  
  
• External demand was also weak, as non-oil domestic exports fell 2.4% y/y in JanuaryFebruary. 
  
  
• We expect IP growth to improve gradually over the course of 2015, but believe soft performance will weigh on GDP growth in the near term.