Q2 GDP +20%?

[not so quiclk]

"In Singapore, the first Asian economy to report gross domestic product data for April-June, GDP rose at an annualised and seasonally-adjusted rate of 20.4 percent, the fastest rate in nearly six years and following four quarters of contraction"

This statement is misleading, and it is not based on Y-on-Y figures.

The truth is is that the GDP fell 3.7 per cent in Q2 compared to the same period a year earlier, a smaller contraction than the 9.6 per cent decline in the first quarter.

Keep your champers on ice, the economy is still nose-diving, although slower pace (at least for now).

Beat me to it. It is also to be noted that most of the swing is due to pharmaceutical outputs.
When there is such a massive swing , positive or negative, this is the first thing to look at.

The June export figures out and they are not pretty. Still trending downward.

"SINGAPORE: Singapore's key exports fell 11 per cent on-year in June as consumer demand from the developed economies, especially for electronic goods, continued to languish, the government said Friday. "

Believe it or not there are people here who just because they don't look at the world through only one of their eyes  do not equate to perma bears.

Nothing wrong in being positive, nothing wrong with good news. I would love for my company's exports to rocket. I would love a bigger bonus.

I just try not to be like the dad on the class 95 advert & only hear the good stuff.
On the other hand I'm not all chicken little either.

Seems alot of the people on this board seem to dwell in the extremes.... or maybe they are the ones that just happen to make the most noise.

[At Least]

At least you're not that Californian maniac.

[Low expectations]

That is true. EXCEEDING expectations by setting expectations low is the order of the day. Public sector bonuses can remain high since expectations are set so low to begin with. This is Singapore.

Good news for sure but take with a hefty pinch of salt.

Numbers here are manipulated big time.  Nevertheless a positive thing.

You don't understand the local mentality. Despite the good numbers, Sing govt has been quick to urge caution. Last night on tv and today in newspapers, you have govt ministers asking Singaporeans not to be overly optimistic. Local leaders are real conservatives. When MM said contraction in the economy could be as much as 9%, you can bet it won't come anywhere near that. Managing expectation down and then delivering superior result is their usual game plan.

[gram]

China's 7.9% economic growth rates for the last quarter are year-on-year and much more meaningful than Singapore's annualised and seasonally-adjusted figures for its last quarter.

[to low expectations]

Presumably being the first country in recession wasn't part of this plan.

I didn't see any "we will be bankrupt next quarter" predictions so they didn't outperform there did they?

[Blaze]

China's 7.9% economic growth rates for the last quarter are year-on-year and much more meaningful than Singapore's annualised and seasonally-adjusted figures for its last quarter.

This growth might not be sustainable, it's all due to the Chinese government's big stimulus package. Even the government warned that economic challenges remain and the growth momentum is unstable. The exports in June were down 21.4% compared with a year earlier.

[gram]

I doubt all of China's economic growth is attributable to the fiscal stimulus, maybe about half of the growth is due to the stimulus. China is still exporting goods, even with its export numbers down and I think still has a trade surplus. Also, it does not rely entirely on exports to generate economic growth.
I am expecting China to grow about 10-11% for the next two quarters.
The danger for China is just how much of a monster it has unleashed with its policies and how it's going to cool down the economy once it builds up extreme momentum.

[The Factory Remains]

Its all a result of the stimulus.  We said this so often already.

[And as we all know]

If you say something often enough, it becomes true.

[gram]

Another thing that has gone mostly unnoticed but pointed out recently in an Economist article is the fact that most of China's economic slowdown was in fact self-inflicted towards the end of 2007, with the Chinese govt. tightening the credit requirements, as one example and generally trying hard to deflate bubbles because otherwise, it would not have been inconceivable that China would have grown at 20-30% per annum, which would have been unsustainable.
So, there was always a lot of leeway as far as stimulating growth in the country by the govt. given that the main issue in recent times has been on trying to cool down the economy.