Singapore Q1 economic growth slows to 1.6 percent

Singapore says its economic growth slowed in the first quarter as manufacturing fell.

The Trade and Industry Ministry said in a statement Thursday that gross domestic product expanded 1.6 percent in the January to March period from a year earlier, down from 3.6 percent in the fourth quarter. Manufacturing dropped 1 percent.

The ministry said the economy grew a seasonally adjusted, annualized 10 percent in the first quarter compared with the fourth quarter.

The ministry warned a disorderly sovereign debt default is possible in Europe amid growing political and fiscal uncertainty.

The ministry said it left unchanged its growth forecast for this year of 1 percent to 3 percent.