By Paul Cochrane, in Beirut 

Going by overall figures of new cars sold, the automotive sector is doing surprisingly well in the current economic environment, up 4.33 percent in the first eight months of the year on 2012, and in comparative terms, above the GDP forecast of 1.6 percent for 2013. Furthermore, the figures are up on last year’s August results, which grew by 7.6 percent on 2011, and the 2.1 percent growth reported in the same period in 2010. But the sector is far from being in good health and bucking the downward trend in much of the rest of the economy.

By Heather Tan, in Singapore

The wealthy city state of Singapore seems to have glided through the global financial crisis, but the country only narrowly avoided recession and this slowdown has affected its important accounting sector. GDP growth in Singapore grew in 2012 was projected to be 1.2%, down from 4.9% the previous year.

Lee Kin Wai, assistant professor of accounting at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University business school explained to Accounting & Business magazine that economic uncertainty makes companies reluctant to share as much data as they might in more stable times.