LOCAL businesses in Singapore maintained cautious optimism for the first quarter of 2025, despite a moderate rise in the Singapore Commercial Credit Bureau’s (SCCB) Business Optimism Index (BOI).
Based on data released on Monday (Dec 16), the BOI climbed for a sixth consecutive quarter to +5.45 percentage points for Q1 2025, as opposed to +5.06 percentage points in Q4 2024 and +4.48 percentage points from Q1 2024.
Four of the six BOI indicators – volume of sales and net profits, selling price and new orders – improved on a quarter-on-quarter basis, while three indicators rose year on year, namely volume of sales and net profit, and inventory levels.
Sentiments for construction, transportation and financial sectors proved the most optimistic with at least four of six indicators in positive territory.
Notably, inventory level declined within the construction sector to zero percentage point for Q1 2025 versus +7.69 percentage points in the previous quarter.
The selling price indicator also moderated for both the transportation (+8.44 percentage points from +16.67 percentage points) and financial (zero percentage point from +7.14 percentage points) sectors as compared to a quarter ago.
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SCCB highlighted that overall sentiment among the manufacturing sector “improved visibly” with five of six indicators in positive territory, as opposed to just two in the previous quarter.
On the other hand, wholesale trade sentiment moderated slightly for Q1 2025, with two out of six indicators in positive territory as opposed to four a quarter ago.
Even as the sector’s selling price indicator climbed and employment levels stayed positive, both volume of sales and net profit fell to zero percentage point in Q1 2025 versus +6.67 percentage points the prior month.
Such mixed sentiment came amid global trade uncertainties, said SCCB chief Audrey Chia.
“While local sentiments have hit a new peak in three years, geopolitical tensions have surged in recent months. Given these downside risks, we remain cautiously optimistic for the new year ahead,” she added.
