[ad_1]
Retrenchments in Singapore could hit 45,600 this year with the economy in a “deep and protracted recession”, as the country toils at containing the spread of the novel coronavirus with an extended “circuit breaker”, a report from DBS Bank suggested on Monday.
Authored by the bank’s senior economist Irvin Seah, the report said Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) is now expected to shrink 5.7 per cent, with the services and construction sectors bearing the brunt of the “circuit-breaker” extension.
“Should Singapore fail in containing the outbreak, GDP growth could plunge to as low as -7.8 per cent,” he said, calling 2020 the “darkest year” for the Singapore economy since its independence in 1965.
Singapore has seen a rapid rise in the number of Covid-19 infections in recent weeks, with the virus circulating among the migrant worker population. This has led to a suspension of all construction activities, with all workers in the sector put on Stay Home Notices.
[ad_2]
Source link
