Exports fell 5.1 percent from November in seasonally adjusted terms and were down 14.2 percent from a year earlier, according to government figures released Wednesday, Jan 17.

A Dow Jones Newswires poll had forecast exports to rise 2.5 percent on month and fall 0.1 percent from a year earlier.

The slump in exports suggests Singapore's economy could slow more than expected in 2007, though economists said weaker exports are already factored into the government's forecast for 4 percent to 6 percent economic growth. The economy grew 7.7 percent in 2006.

Electronics, which make up about half of non-oil exports, fell 19.3 percent from a year earlier and were down 10.2 percent on a three-month moving average basis.

Part of the weakness in electronics exports has been due to hard disk drive makers shifting production to lower cost countries such as China, said CIMB-GK economist Song Seng Wun said.

Exports of pharmaceuticals, which are prone to volatile month-to-month swings, fell 33.0 percent from a year earlier.

Releasing the 2007 trade outlook, the government's trade promotion agency, International Enterprise Singapore, said non-oil exports should grow 7 percent to 9 percent in 2006, compared with 8.5 percent growth in 2006.

Potentially slower growth in exports would reflect slower economic growth in the US, Japan and Europe, the agency said in a statement.

CIMB-GK economist Song Seng Wun said the government's forecast for export growth remained achievable despite the weak December.

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