Last year, Singaporean chemicals factory boss Erman Tan took his employees on a cruise to the Malaysian island of Penang. This year, Tan says the best he can offer is to watch a video of the trip.
Singapore’s economy is expected to grow at its slowest pace in a decade this year, and some experts are predicting a recession in 2020, as the US-China trade war looks set to hit the export-reliant city state harder than others in Southeast Asia.
This has prompted some economists to raise bets on the central bank easing monetary policy at its next meeting in October, or even out of cycle, especially if the US Federal Reserve were to cut interest rates next month.