A poll of industrialists from the manufacturing sector showed five percent were optimistic about business conditions in the first half of 2005, from 12 percent in the three months to December, the Economic Development Boardsaid.

The decline in confidence was attributed mainly to expectations of a slowdown in the electronics industry, which contributes almost half of the activity in the manufacturing sector, the EDB said.

A separate poll of the services sector by the Department of Statistics showed that business confidence was mixed.

Hoteliers and executives in wholesale and retail as well as transport and communications firms expected activity to slow down in the first quarter.

However, those in the financial services, real estate and business services were confident that revenues would increase, the poll showed.

Singapore's trade-led economy was one the fastest-growing in the Asia-Pacific region in 2004 with gross domestic product (GDP) expanding 8.1 percent from a low base of 1.1 percent growth in 2003.

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