In August, Singapore’s yearly exports decreased for the eleventh consecutive month as the country’s trade-dependent economy battles rising global inflation and waning demand.

According to official data released on Monday, Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) decreased 20.1% from the previous year in August as both electronics and non-electronics shipments to the United States, Europe, and China decreased.

The decrease extended the 20.3% contraction reported in July and fell short of the 15.8% contraction predicted in a Reuters poll.

According to Barclays economist Brian Tan, “This does seem to suggest that any kind of stabilisation on exports doesn’t seem to be on hand just yet,”

Due to the slow growth and ongoing inflation, economists anticipate that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) would maintain the status quo in its monetary policy during the policy review scheduled for next month.

“Even if the growth is weak, inflation has been at a very uncomfortable level for us… it’s really too soon to be relaxed about inflation, and MAS is going to stay relatively cautious,” said Tan.

According to data from Enterprise Singapore, NODX declined 3.8% month over month when seasonally adjusted, compared to a decline of 3.5% the previous month. 5.5% growth was expected by economists. Following a 34.3% increase in July, NODX to the United States decreased by 32.4% in August, mostly as a result of the strong reduction in non-electronic exports.

Singapore’s economic growth projection was reduced last month from 0.5% to 2.5% to 0.5% to 1.5% after the country narrowly avoided a recession in the second quarter when its GDP grew by a seasonally adjusted 0.1%.

After tightening policy five times in a row since October 2021, the central bank maintained its current policy settings in April, indicating concerns about the city-state’s growth prospects.