The usual suspect: Is Singapore ever going to shake off its manufacturing woes?

Analysts’ predictions are getting gloomier by the quarter.

Though Singapore clawed its way to a modest GDP growth and exceeded expectations in the third quarter, there’s no discounting the large gravitational pull of the anemic manufacturing sector on the results.

And the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel might not even exist for manufacturing, say analysts from OCBC, as manufacturing is expected to disappoint next quarter.

“Eying specifically on 4Q15, we estimate that manufacturing could continue to contract by 5.4% yoy, with GDP growth around 1.3% yoy (+2.5% qoq saar) to bring full-year growth to 2% yoy which is our house forecast,” OCBC says.

Meanwhile, OCBC has also revised its 2015 NODX growth forecast from 1-2% to 0.5-1% due to a gloomy trade performance, and 2016 NODX outlook remains at a similar 0-2% pace given an expected moderation in China’s growth even as global growth improves.

Analysts from DBS concur that no speck of improvement could be foreseen for the manufacturing sector given the weak external demand.

“Plainly, the manufacturing sector is in recession, having contracted in the past four quarters in year-on-year terms and in three out of the past five quarters on a sequential basis,” DBS said.

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