Economists cut 2016 Singapore growth, inflation forecasts - MAS survey

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Economists lowered their forecasts for Singapore's 2016 growth and inflation compared with three months ago, while downgrading their view on exports and manufacturing activity, a central bank survey showed on Wednesday.

The median forecast of 24 economists surveyed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) was for gross domestic product (GDP) to grow 1.9 percent in 2016, down from 2.2 percent expected in the previous MAS survey published in December.

"As reflected by the mean probability distribution, the most likely outcome is for the Singapore economy to grow by between 1.0 to 1.9 percent this year, below the 2.0 to 2.9 percent range reported in the last survey," the MAS said.

The government now expects full-year GDP growth of 1.0-3.0 percent this year.

Economists' median forecast for non-oil domestic exports was growth of 0.2 percent for all of 2016, down from the previous forecast of a 1.5 percent expansion.

The manufacturing sector was seen likely to shrink 2.7 percent in 2016, worse than the previous median forecast of a 1.2 percent contraction.

The MAS survey showed that economists expect GDP growth in the first quarter to come in at 1.6 percent year-on-year, down from 1.8 percent expected in the previous survey.

Singapore's advance estimate of January-March GDP is due to be released in April. In the fourth quarter of 2015, GDP expanded 1.8 percent year-on-year, while expanding at an annualised 6.2 percent from the previous quarter.

Economists also lowered their inflation forecasts for 2016, according to the median forecasts in the MAS survey.

The headline consumer inflation rate was seen at -0.2 percent year-on-year in 2016, down from 0.5 percent in the December survey.

MAS core inflation, the focus of monetary policy, was expected to come in at 0.8 percent in 2016, down from 1.0 percent expected in the previous survey.

In February, Singapore lowered its headline inflation forecast for 2016 to -1.0 percent to 0.0 percent after a collapse in global oil prices. The previous official forecast had been -0.5 percent to 0.5 percent.

The MAS, however, has kept its 2016 forecast for core inflation unchanged at 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent.

Economists expect the Singapore dollar to trade at S$1.45 against the U.S. dollar at end-2016, the MAS survey showed.

(Reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Editing by Kim Coghill)