The Singapore economy grew by 1.8% on a year-on-year basis in the first quarter, unchanged from the previous quarter, says the Ministry of Trade and Industry this morning. On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted annualised basis, the economy expanded by 0.2%, slower than the 6.2% growth in the preceding quarter. The ministry is also maintaining a GDP growth forecast for 2016 at 1.0 to 3.0%. “The global economic outlook has weakened since early 2016, with global growth for the year now expected to be broadly similar to that in 2015. In particular, the growth outlook for the advanced economies has deteriorated marginally,” says MTI. Domestically, the softening of global economic conditions, as well as the continued sluggishness in global trade, could weigh on externally-oriented sectors such as the manufacturing and transportation & storage sectors. Persistent low oil prices will also continue to dampen the outlook for firms ......