Singapore - Singapore Tuesday revised down its forecast of economic activity for this year, expecting gross domestic product (GDP) to contract by 6 to 9 per cent, lower than the contraction of 2 to 5 per cent that it had forecast on January 21. Advance estimates for the Singapore economy indicate that economic activity slowed sharply in the first quarter of 2009, the Trade and Industry Ministry said in a statement.

The decline in the first quarter affected every sector except construction, the ministry pointed out.

"Falling external demand in late 2008 and early 2009 has severely affected domestic manufacturing output," the ministry said.

In year-on-year terms, the manufacturing sector is estimated to have contracted by 29 per cent in the first quarter, after a 10.7 per cent contraction year-on-year in the last quarter of 2008.

The manufacturing decline was led by the electronics and precision engineering segments, but the chemicals cluster and the biomedical manufacturing cluster also saw large declines.

"With most of Singapore's key trading partners still in recession, the manufacturing sector will continue to remain weak for the rest of the year," the ministry statement said. (dpa)