SINGAPORE, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Enterprise Singapore, a newly established government agency that champions enterprise development, announced on Thursday that both Singapore's total merchandise trade and services trade grew in the first quarter of 2018.

According to the Review of First Quarter 2018 Trade Performance, Singapore's total merchandise trade grew by 2.5 percent year on year in the first quarter, to 241.5 billion Singapore dollars (about 179.71 billion U.S. dollars), as both oil and non-oil trade rose.

The growth was compared to the 7.8 percent increase in the previous quarter, the Review says.

It says Singapore's oil trade increased by 5.1 percent to in the quarter amid higher oil prices than a year ago, after the 27.7 percent growth in the previous quarter. Non-oil trade rose by 1.9 percent in the period, following the previous quarter's 3.6 percent increase.

The Review adds that Singapore's non-oil domestic exports were projected to grow firmly between 1 and 3 percent this year, while the total merchandise trade would grow in the range between 3 percent and 5 percent.

Meanwhile, Singapore's total services trade rose by 4.7 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2018, to 116.6 billion Singapore dollars. This extended the 4.1 percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2017.

The Review attributes the total services trade growth to the better performances in both services exports and imports, which increased 6.1 percent and 3.4 percent year on year respectively.

It also attributes the growth in services exports to the increase in exports of financial services, transport services and receipts from charges for the use of intellectual property, which grew 11.5 percent, 5.6 percent and 20.2 percent, respectively. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 1.34 Singapore dollars)