SINGAPORE - Singapore's economy contracted by 5.8 per cent for the whole of 2020, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry's (MTI) advanced estimates released on Monday (Jan 4). For the fourth quarter of last year, the economy shrank by 3.8 per cent year on year, an improvement from a revised 5.6 per cent drop in the third quarter, as more coronavirus related curbs on economic activity were lifted. The economy's fourth quarter performance was also better than the 4.5 per cent year- on-year drop by economists in a Reuters poll. On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally-adjusted basis, the economy grew by 2.1 per cent, following the 9.5 per cent expansion in the third quarter. The strong GDP growth seen in the third quarter was due to the phased resumption of activities following the circuit breaker period stretching from April 7 to June 1, as well as the rebound in activity in major economies during the quarter as they emerged from their own lockdowns, MTI said. The full-year 2020 MTI estimate tops earlier forecasts of a contraction of 6.5 per cent to 6 per cent made last month and is much lower than a previous estimate of a 7 per cent to 5 per cent shrinkage. In its maiden forecast...