Industrial production was up in Singapore, France and Malaysia, according to several government reports released Tuesday.
Singapore’s economy grew sharply in the third quarter. Advance estimates from the Ministry of Trade and Industry show that Singapore’s GDP rose by 7.1 percent in the third quarter, as compared to the same time period last year. On an adjusted annualized basis, real GDP, grew 3.4 percent expansion in the previous quarter.
The manufacturing sector is estimated to have increased by 10 percent in the third quarter. There was slower growth, however, in the biomedical manufacturing, electronics and chemicals sectors, while precision engineering and transport engineering increased at a quicker pace.
The Industrial Production Index (IPI) in Malaysia rose 5.0 percent in August to 138.4 as compared with 131.8 reported in the same month of 2005. The increase was attributed to improvements in the manufacturing and electricity sectors. Manufacturing rose by 8.0 percent to 144.6 from 133.9 and electricity increase by 4.9 percent to 159 from 151.6. During the first eight months of 2006, the IPI grew by 6.0% to 133.4 as compared to 125.9 for the same period in 2005. Insee, the French National Statistics Office, reported Tuesday that the Industrial Production Index for August, excluding energy and agrifood, was 102.6, an increase of 0.9 percent, as compared with the same time period in 2005. The estimate was unchanged, however, between June and July.