Production of electronics, a key Singapore export, expanded 12.3 percent last month, faster than the 8.0 per cent increase in January, the Economic Development Board (EDB) said.

Transport engineering, which covers the making of oil rigs and related equipment as well as shipbuilding and ship repair, jumped 17.2 per cent, reversing a 3.2 per cent drop in the previous month.

Biomedicals output, which covers pharmaceuticals, grew 9.3 per cent, sharply decelerating from its annual growth of 60.3 per cent in January.

Analysts had expected the manufacturing output to grow at 3.3 per cent in February. Manufacturing accounts for about a quarter of the Singapore economy.

The better-than-expected manufacturing output followed the release of data showing that Singapore's key non-oil domestic exports (NODX) rose an annual 7.3 per cent in February, faster than the 2.8 per cent growth clocked in the previous month.

Singapore's economy expanded 7.7 per cent in 2007 but the trade ministry foresees a slower pace of 4.0-6.0 per cent this year because of increased risks from the US, a major buyer of the country's exports. -- AFP