Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry announced yesterday morning its GDP grew 2.5 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2017, the same pace of growth as in the previous quarter, reports Xinhua.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualised basis, the economy expanded 0.4 per cent in the period, compared to a 1.9-per cent decrease in the preceding quarter.

According to the ministry, Singapore’s manufacturing sector saw a year-on-year rise of eight percent in the period, compared to an 8.5 per cent rises in the first quarter of 2017. The growth was supported mainly by the electronics and precision engineering clusters, which saw robust expansions on the back of strong

external demand for semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment respectively.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualised basis, the sector grew by 2.4 per cent in April-June, compared to a 0.4-per cent growth in the previous quarter.

Singapore’s construction sector contracted by 5.6 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter, following a 6.1 per cent decline in the first quarter. The ministry attributes the decline to a weakness in both private sector and public sector construction activities.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualized basis, the sector rebounded to grow by 4.3 per cent in the second quarter, compared to a 14.4-per cent contraction in the first quarter.

The services producing industries grew 1.7 per cent year on year in the second quarter, faster than the 1.4- per cent growth in the previous quarter.