Singapore’s economy can expect a “generally subdued growth environment” but this should keep inflationary pressures modest in the near-term, says the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in its bi-annual macroeconomic review released on Tuesday. “The external environment will continue to exert a drag on Singapore’s manufacturing and trade related services sectors,” says Singapore’s central bank. In particular, MAS notes that the prevailing composition of global growth has weighed on Singapore’s electronics manufacturing sector while the pullback in regional trade flows has reduced demand for transportation and storage services as well as wholesale trade activities. With external demand still “fairly tepid”, MAS says Singapore’s trade-related sectors are unlikely to rebound strongly in the quarters ahead due to their greater exposure to underperforming industries in the global manufacturing sector. “The underlying shift in the composition of global demand from investment to consumption is likely to be long-lasting, given the spending trends in ......