TOKYO – Whether Singapore’s economy enters a technical recession will depend on near-term external factors such as how the global electronics industry will fare, as well as the state of the Chinese and United States economies, said Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

“There are a lot of uncertainties, but we will have to see what happens and how it impacts our economy,” he said. “For now, our domestically-oriented sectors like construction as well as tourism sector still remain fairly resilient.

“So we will monitor this closely, and we will consider what measures to take, should the downside risk or scenarios materialise.” 

The factors of de-risking or decoupling in the world economy are broader, longer-term concerns, he added, in an interview on Friday with the Singapore media at the end of his official trip in Japan.

Singapore’s economy shrank 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2023, over the last quarter of 2022, official data showed on Thursday. This means the Republic is at risk of a technical recession, which is defined as two consecutive quarters of contractions.

Among the external challenges that Mr Wong cited on Friday were a downturn in the global electronics industry, the state of