SG Morning Call｜Singapore Retail Sales Down 0.1% in October; DPM Lawrence Wong on Four-Day Official Visit to China

Singapore Retail Sales Down 0.1% in October, Undoing September Gains

Singapore retail sales dipped 0.1 percent year on year in October, snapping an eight-month streak of expansion and reversing from the previous month’s upwardly revised 0.8 percent growth.

This comes amid a deeper contraction in the sales of recreational goods and furniture, data from the Singapore Department of Statistics (SingStat) showed on Tuesday (Dec 5).

October’s result was also a disappointment for private-sector economists, who had expected a 0.2 percent year-on-year growth, according to a Bloomberg poll. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales fell 1 percent year on year, compared with September’s 0.7 percent growth.

DPM Lawrence Wong on Four-Day Official Visit to Beijing, Tianjin

Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong arrived in China on Tuesday (Dec 5) for a four-day official visit that will take him to the capital Beijing and its neighbouring city of Tianjin.

He is there on the invitation of Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang, said a statement from Singapore’s Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

On Tuesday, Wong attended a reception for overseas Singaporeans at the China World Hotel in Beijing. About 300 Singaporeans, including students, businessmen and professionals, were there.

Singaporeans Exempt From Malaysia Digital Arrival Card That Applies to Foreigners

Singaporeans travelling to Malaysia will not be required to fill up the Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC), which will be compulsory from Jan 1 for foreign travellers.

“All Singaporean citizens will be exempted (from filling up the digital card),” Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told a news conference at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Tuesday (Dec 5).

Explaining the move, he said some Singaporeans enter Malaysia on an almost daily basis, and therefore “it is more realistic for us to exempt them”.