Singapore is expected to have a "slow and uneven journey" towards economic recovery, said trade minister Chan Chun Sing after the Ministry of Trade & Industry (MTI) released the advance GDP estimates for 2020Q2 on July 14.
Singapore's economy contracted by 12.6 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the second quarter of 2020. On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualised basis, the economy shrank by 41.2 per cent.
"These figures are expected, given the unprecedented Circuit Breaker measures that were in place from 7 April to 1 June to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Singapore, as well as the disruptions to global economic activity caused by the lockdowns in many countries that were similarly trying to fight the virus," said Chan.
He also noted that the International Monetary Fund last month announced the global GDP is expected to shrink by 4.9 per cent in 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic.
"The road to recovery in the months ahead will be challenging," said Chan. "We expect recovery to be a slow and uneven journey, as external demand continues to be weak and countries battle the second and third waves of outbreaks by reinstating localised lockdowns or stricter safe distancing measures."
He added that domestically, the pace of Singapore's recovery will also depend on the public health situation and the infections in the community are kept low.