The pace of economic recovery is slowing down in Singapore — and the Formula One Grand Prix is not likely to speed things up, according to this Bloomberg report, which quotes government sources and race organizers.
"Since the tourists are not coming to town, the locals have to do something," says the Bloomberg reporter who has bought F1 tickets.
Michael Roche,Singapore Grand Prix executive director, says the grandstand seats costing an average of 1,500 Singapore dollars (over $1,000) were not easy to sell locally.
Blame it on the economy.
Manufacturing output actually fell by 5.6 percent in August compared with July, reported the Economic Development Board, though it was 12.3 percent higher than in August last year.
Worryingly, all the growth was in just one sector: biomedicals, which was up a phenomenal 97.8 percent compared with August last year.
All other sectors were down. EDB said:
"Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output declined 6.1 percent."
And note this. It said:
"Cumulative output in the first eight months of 2009 contracted by 6.7 percent compared to the same period in 2008."
That's in line with the government forecast of a 4 to 6 percent slump this year. "On balance, the outlook for the second half of 2009 remains subdued," the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in its second-quarter report.
The EDB report said:
"The output in the biomedical manufacturing cluster grew 97.8% year-on-year in August 2009, lifted by the 108.1% increase in the pharmaceuticals segment. The medical technology segment contracted 7.5% in August 2009. Cumulative output of the biomedical manufacturing cluster from January to August 2009 increased by 28.9% compared to the same period in 2008.
"The output of the transport engineering cluster shrank 2.5% in August 2009 compared with the same month last year. The land transport segment registered positive growth of 25.4% in August while the marine & offshore engineering and aerospace segments declined by 1.8% and 7.0% respectively. Cumulative output of the transport engineering cluster edged down 0.2% in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period in 2008.
"Output for the general manufacturing industries contracted by 4.2% year-on-year in August 2009. Within the cluster, the miscellaneous industries segment increased 1.3% while the food, beverages & tobacco and printing segments contracted by 6.6% and 13.3% respectively. Cumulative output in the first eight months of 2009 fell 7.1% compared to the same period in 2008.
"The chemicals cluster output declined 4.5% year-on-year in August 2009. The petrochemicals segment was 15.4% higher in August mainly due to the low base last year when there were major scheduled maintenance shutdowns in some petrochemicals plants. The petroleum segment fell 16.4% as refineries continued to have weak refining margins, causing them to cut back on throughput. The chemicals cluster contracted 15.6% on a year-to-date basis.
"The electronics cluster’s output contracted by 6.4% year-on-year in August 2009. The computer peripherals segment expanded 32.1% in August due to a surge in demand for certain computer related products. The semiconductors segment continued to see a moderation in decline as it contracted 7.6% in August. For the first eight months of 2009, the electronics cluster contracted 23.8% compared to the same period in 2008.
"The output of the precision engineering cluster shrank 12.7% in August 2009 compared to the same period a year ago. The machinery & systems segment saw a moderation in decline in August as the segment contracted 8.2%. There was a pickup in demand for equipment both locally and overseas in recent months. Demand for the precision modules & components segment remained weak, as output shrank 16.3% in August. The cluster’s output from January to August 2009 was 22.2% lower than the output level in the same period last year."
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