Briefs

The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are weighing on Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports (NODX) as the metric reversed into the red in May, after posting expansion in the preceding three months.

Official figures released by trade agency Enterprise Singapore (ESG) on June 17 pointed to a 4.5% y-o-y contraction in May, compared to a 9.7% growth logged in April. Economists were expecting a 1% growth.

Specifically, the decline was led by an 8.8% contraction in non-electronic products, a significant deviation from the 12.8% growth logged by the segment in April. Meanwhile, electronic exports surged 12.5% in May, rebounding from the 0.6% dip posted in April.

Selena Ling, head of treasury and strategy at OCBC Bank, calls this a “two steps forward, one step back story”, as the fall in NODX is “unexpected” and “disappointed both market estimates and our expectations”, she elaborates.

The June NODX is likely to snap back again, thanks to pharmaceuticals, with the re-opening of the Singapore economy and other lockdowns being lifted globally — including in key markets like the US, Japan and Malaysia, she says.

UOB economist Barnabas Gan agrees, noting that Singapore has contributed US$13.0 million ($18.1 million) towards international efforts to combat Covid-19. “Locally-produced range of serological and nucleic acid-based diagnostic tests have already been deployed to over 20 countries. Singapore is also expected to build up its vaccine manufacturing capacity, and eventually offer contract manufacturing services to vaccine developers,” he adds.

Still, Ling cautions that the re-emergence of cases in Beijing and elsewhere “may imply that the 2H recovery trajectory may not be linear as consumer confidence and demand may remain subdued”.

“Overall, there are still risks on both sides — the earlier transition to Phase Two for Singapore with more economic engines restarting is definitely a positive development, but the ongoing USChina trade and tech war may complicate the picture in addition to the evolving pandemic situation,” she adds. — Amala Balakrishner

14 digital bank applicants onto next stage of assessment: MAS

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced that 14 of the 21 digital-bank applicants have met the eligibility criteria required for the application to be considered. The applicants, comprising five digital full-bank (DFB) applicants and nine digital wholesalebank (DWB) applicants, will progress to the next stage of assessment.

This comes after MAS received 21 digital bank applications in January. Of the 21 applications, there are seven DFB applications and 14 DWB applications. During the next stage of assessment, the 14 eligible applicants will present their proposals to MAS virtually.

Applicants will then be shortlisted based on their value proposition and business model. They will also be assessed based on their incorporating the innovative use of technology, and ability to manage a prudent and sustainable digital banking business.

Growth prospects and other contributions to Singapore’s financial centre will also be taken into consideration.

As the applications were received in late 2019, MAS has asked all eligible applicants to review the business plans and assumptions underpinning their financial projections, including sources of funding, and provide an independent review of these assumptions, following the impacted macroeconomic and business conditions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak this year.

The request will not affect the timeline to award the digital-bank licences by the end of this year, says MAS. Prior to the outbreak, MAS had planned to award the licences by the middle of this year. — Felicia Tan

Indonesia surpasses Singapore with most number of Covid-19 infections in Southeast Asia

Indonesia surpassed Singapore as the country with the most number of coronavirus infections in Southeast Asia, as the world’s fourth-most populous nation ramped up testing across the archipelago to contain the pandemic.

Confirmed new cases jumped 1,031 on June 17, taking Indonesia’s total to 41,431, Achmad Yurianto, a health ministry official, said at a briefing in Jakarta. That exceeded Singapore’s tally of 41,216, official data showed. The nation’s death toll stood at 2,276, also the highest in Southeast Asia.

Indonesia has seen a surge in infections in recent weeks with the ramping up of virus testing as authorities began easing social distancing rules in capital Jakarta and other cities to revive an economy brought to a halt by the pandemic. President Joko Widodo and other officials have called for steps to prevent a second wave of infections and threatened to re-impose social distancing rules to contain the virus.

While the majority of the infections in Singapore is from the migrant worker clusters, Indonesia has reported cases from all its 34 provinces spread across a chain of islands. The virus deaths in the country of almost 270 million people may be more than three times the official tally, according to LaporCovid-19 and KawalCOVID19, two open-source data platforms.

“The current trend in daily cases appears to be reflecting the reality on the ground,” Ngurah Mahardika, a virologist at Udayana University in Bali, said by phone. “I’m expecting the current wave to peak around June 21 and we should see the daily cases falling from then, but my model suggests that a second peak may come at around Dec 21.”

A second wave of infections can be prevented if the authorities maintained strict social distancing measures to mitigate the spread of the disease, Mahardika said.

Indonesia has scaled up average daily testing to almost 20,000 as targeted by Widodo, who says the disease will linger until a vaccine become available to everyone. The country has conducted polymerase chain reaction tests on 348,278 people, official data shows, and there are more than 13,279 suspected patients still waiting to be diagnosed.

East Java, home to country’s second-largest city Surabaya, and South Sulawesi have emerged as the nation’s new hot-spots for the virus. East Java, with an estimated population of 40 million, saw infections surge by 225 to 8,533. The death toll in the province reached 651. — Bloomberg

10% of Singapore’s population suffering from anxiety and depression

One in 10 people, or 10% of the population, in Singapore suffers from anxiety and depression, according to the department of psychiatry at the Singapore General Hospital.

Even before the global pandemic, which induced nationwide lockdowns, anxiety had affected some 60 million people in Southeast Asia. Close to 86 million people are said to be suffering from depression in the region.

These figures were highlighted by Mercer on June 18, when it launched its Healthy Minds at Work Assessment programme to help businesses assess and address mental well-being in the workplace.

“In Asia, mental health often doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Talking about it, let alone seeking help, can be a challenge. A Mercer survey of Asian businesses this February found that only 22% of employers were actively tackling mental health two months after the outbreak, despite seeing a 26% rise in the use of Employee Assistance Programs in Asia,” says Dr Wolfgang Siedl, partner and psychologist for Mercer Health & Benefits.

Mercer says that the pandemic, which has disrupted most aspects of today’s work environment, is also expected to take a greater psychological toll on employees. This is ignited by social isolation, as well as additional stressors including job insecurity, financial instability and remote work.

Globally, around 75% of people are feeling more socially isolated, while 67% are facing higher stress, according to a recent study by SAP and Qualtrics. Some 57% are experiencing greater social anxiety, and another 53% say they feel more emotionally exhausted.

In a Mercer survey on employee concerns in March, some 65% of respondents wanted their organisations to provide emotional support. Another 55% said they wanted online mental health resources during the pandemic. — Felicia Tan