Singapore manufacturers more bearish on outlook - survey

SINGAPORE Jan 30 (Reuters) - Singapore manufacturers are more pessimistic on their business prospects, a government survey showed on Friday, in the latest sign of the deepening impact of the global downturn on the city-state's economy.

Overall, a net weighted 57 percent of manufacturers said they expect business conditions to deteriorate in the next six months to June 2009, Singapore's Economic Development Board said in a statement.

This compares with the Board's previous survey in October when a net weighted 18 percent of manufacturers were pessimistic on the outlook.

Singapore's trade-dependent economy could shrink up to 5 percent this year, the government estimates, after the country was the first in Asia to fall into recession last year as weakening global growth hammered demand for its exports. (Reporting by Neil Chatterjee; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)