SINGAPORE’S INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION FALLS FURTHER

SINGAPORE - Industrial production (IP) grew by just 1.9% in July, a much worse fall than expected – down from 8.0% in June. On a month-on-month basis, it contracted by 9.1%, compared to 4.2% expansion. ANZ Bank says the fall was once again driven mostly by the biomedical sector, particularly by the pharmaceutical industry. “This industry tends to have large contractions after huge upswings, and July was no different - a 28.4% month-on-month drop compared to June’s 45.1% surge,” ANZ says. Weakness in the broader range of productive sectors continued.