Singapore's export-driven economy shrank the most in four years in the third quarter, officials said Friday, as manufacturing sharply contracted on weaker global demand.
The city-state, which is regarded as a bellwether for Asia's other trade-reliant economies, has been hit hard by the slump in crude prices and sluggish world growth, which have hurt its key oil and gas services sector.
Its central bank, which uses the exchange rate rather than interest rates to keep prices stable, on Friday maintained its monetary policy of zero-percent appreciation in the exchange rate for the local currency.
The economy contracted 4.1 percent in the September quarter from the previous three months, according to preliminary data released by the trade ministry.