SINGAPORE in RECESSION !!!

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Nobodys fault in particular. Juz the sinful Plain Ol' GREED mate !

Who's fault? America's fault -.-

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MOE steps up recruitment drive with 7,500 new jobs

Channel NewsAsia - Wednesday, December 31

SINGAPORE: The Education Ministry (MOE) is stepping up its recruitment drive.

More than 7,000 teaching and teaching—support jobs will be available next year.

In addition, the ministry is also looking at enhancing infrastructure and offering financial assistance schemes to students to cope with the economic downturn.

MOE and its schools plan to fill 3,500 jobs, while a further 4,000 will come from institutes of higher learning and the kindergarten sector. This was announced at the appointment ceremony for 50 principals on Tuesday.

The education sector in Singapore currently employs some 29,400 teachers.

Education Minister Ng Eng Hen said: "We also recognise that the available source of people to recruit gives us an opportunity to push up recruitment now."

In April this year, teachers and principals received a pay raise of as much as 18 per cent.

With relevant work experience, teacher recruits can earn up to S$4,300 a month while they train to become a teacher.

Trained teachers can earn up to S$5,000 immediately after training.

Dr Ng says salary cuts across the board next year are unlikely.

"For the education sector on a whole, I don’t think its government policy to say there’s a paycut for everybody. It doesn’t make sense economically because then you are basically controlling it centrally. Market forces will dictate."

There will also be an accelerated training programme to help mid—career professionals become kindergarten teachers.

Other mid—career options are positions like polytechnic lecturers and education policy analysts.

Principal of Qiaonan Primary School, Victor Tan, who joined the teaching profession from the legal field, said: "I joined education in 1997 as a teacher and from then, they have provided huge opportunities for us to be developed as school leaders and it’s progressive in nature.

“So, as a teacher, if you perform well, they do identify and provide training to move you up the value chain."

Despite the economic turmoil, MOE says it will not be cutting back on enhancement programmes for teachers or infrastructure projects for schools. The ministry says it needs to spend more now in order to get more in certain areas.

MOE also intends to capitalise on the recession by attracting top faculties from Singapore and overseas to improve its faculty—student ratio.

The ministry will also assist students whose families face financial difficulties during the economic recession.

Principal of Gan Eng Seng Primary School, Thian Ai Ling, said: "Whenever there are difficulties raised (by the students), we will do our best to help them."

Schools will receive grants to help this group of students who may not meet eligibility criteria under normal circumstances.

— CNA/yt

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PM Lee: Prepare for 'difficult year' ahead

Singapore economic outlook grim for 2009: PM Lee

AFP - Thursday, January 1

SINGAPORE, Dec 31, 2008 (AFP) - Singapore's economy is likely to worsen next year after growing just 1.5 percent in 2008 , Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Wednesday, urging Singaporeans to "prepare for a difficult year ahead."

"Our economy will probably contract further. More companies will be forced to downsize. So far we have not seen many job losses, but I expect more retrenchments in the next few months. We must be psychologically prepared," Lee said in his New Year's Day message to the nation.

More job losses are expected in the next few months as companies are forced to shed employees, Lee said.

"As a small, open economy, Singapore cannot avoid being hit. We earn our living by trading with and servicing the world. So the fall in worldwide demand has hit our exports, our tourism sector, and our broader economy," he said.

"We must therefore prepare for a difficult year ahead, and especially the first half of 2009.

Singapore's key markets such as the United States, Japan and Europe have fallen into recession after a crisis in the US housing market spread to the financial sector and the larger economy.

The city-state, one of Asia's wealthiest economies, went into a recession this year, although full-year growth came in at 1.5 percent, well below the official forecast of 2.5 percent and the 7.5 percent expansion in 2007.

"The outlook is highly uncertain. At each stage of this crisis, events have turned out worse than the experts predicted," Lee said.

While governments have been implementing monetary and fiscal measures and rescuing troubled financial institutions and key corporations, "no one is sure how the financial systems and economies will respond, or which policies will work," he said.

This has led to a loss of business and consumer confidence, he said, warning against expectations of a quick recovery.

"Quite likely the global recession will be followed not by a quick rebound, but by several more years of slow growth," he said.

Next year's national budget, which has been brought forward to January, will focus on helping Singapore firms so that workers can keep their jobs, the premier said.

"We will introduce measures to help them (companies) with their business costs, including rental and wage bills. We are also studying further financing support for companies," he said.

The government will do its best to help workers keep their jobs and retrain those who have been laid off, he said, adding this will be done by helping businesses through the crisis.

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S'pore cuts growth outlook to -2% as recession bites

Singapore sees biggest-ever quarterly GDP fall: govt

AFP - 1 hour 23 minutes ago

SINGAPORE, Jan 2, 2009 (AFP) - Singapore's economy could contract by as much as two percent this year, the government said Friday after data showed a deepening recession and the worst quarterly GDP decline on record.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 12.5 percent in the fourth quarter, on a seasonally adjusted annualised quarter-on-quarter basis, which the trade ministry said is the biggest fall since records began in 1976.

"The global economic crisis has worsened since November, with sharp declines in global demand, trade and investments," the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a news release.

It also cited the sharp fourth quarter contraction in the trade-dependent economy for its revised 2009 growth forecast, which now ranges between a contraction of 2.0 percent and expansion of 1.0 percent.

"The fourth quarter was a little bit weaker than most of us were projecting," said David Cohen, director of Asian forecasting at global research house Action Economics.

"This is clearly a major global downturn and Singapore is taking its lumps."

The trade ministry downgraded its previous growth estimate, made in November, which ranged between a contraction of 1.0 percent and expansion of 2.0 percent in 2009.

Singapore in October became the first Asian economy to enter a recession but since then major economies around the world -- including the city-state's key export markets the European Union and United States -- have also seen declining economic activity.

Singapore is Southeast Asia's wealthiest economy in terms of GDP per capita but its heavy dependence on trade makes it sensitive to economic disturbances in developed economies.

The quarter-on-quarter fall in GDP of 12.5 percent compared with a decline of 5.4 percent in the third quarter, the trade ministry said. In the second quarter, the economy fell by 5.7 percent.

Measured against the fourth quarter last year, the economy contracted by 2.6 percent in real terms, after a 0.3 percent year-on-year fall in the third quarter.

GDP is the value of all goods and services produced by an economy.

The fourth-quarter figures are advance estimates based largely on October and November figures. More detailed information is to be released next month.

In his New Year's Day message to the nation on Wednesday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned of "a difficult year ahead" after the economy grew 1.5 percent in 2008.

In 2007 the economy expanded by 7.7 percent, the trade ministry said.

It noted that analysts have lowered their growth forecasts for the United States, Europe and Japan by about one percentage point, while the outlook for regional economies has also deteriorated.

"These developments will affect the sectors in the Singapore economy that rely on the movement of goods and services in the region," the trade ministry said.

Weaker global demand has affected Singapore's electronics and precision engineering industries, pulling the entire manufacturing sector down by an estimated 9.0 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same time last year, the ministry said.

Chemicals output also fell because of slowing external demand, while growth in the service industries slowed to an estimated 1.1 percent from 5.3 percent in the third quarter, it added.

Cohen said the extent of the slowdown in services was unexpected.

A contraction in industrial building saw construction sector growth slow to 13.3 percent, down from 18.6 in the preceding quarter, the ministry said.

Cohen said his forecast for Singapore has been downgraded to a 2.0 percent contraction this year, from a one-percent shrinkage projected earlier.

"It does look like we're going to see an annual contraction in 2009."

That would leave the economy in its worse shape since 2001 when growth fell by 2.4 percent, according to official data.

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National Wage Council to recommend pay cuts?

Economists say NWC should address wage cut in current economic climate

Channel NewsAsia - Thursday, January 8

SINGAPORE: Economic watchers are expecting the National Wages Council (NWC) to address the issue of salary cuts to brace for the current difficult economic times.

Channel NewsAsia understands from employer and union representatives that the council, which was reconvened recently, met again on Wednesday. Its revised guidelines are expected next week.

The last time the NWC recommended a wage cut to save jobs was in 2003 during the SARS period.

In 2003, the NWC proposed that in view of the severe impact of SARS on the economy, companies directly affected by the outbreak implement appropriate wage cuts to survive the downturn and to save jobs.

Economic watchers said the time has come for the NWC to revisit this need for companies to survive and save jobs.

Dr Tim Phillippi, executive director, Singaporean—German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, said: "When it comes to workforce and flexibility, what would be helpful would be flexibility with regard to work time during the week.

"Also, for companies, if it is necessary, the flexibility with regard to temporary pay cuts and temporary layoffs. With measures like these, companies would be prepared for the times after the crisis."

Veteran Parliamentarian Inderjit Singh feels all is possible without affecting the CPF rates. He said the CPF rates are currently at an appropriate level, just enough for retirement savings.

Mr Inderjit said: "Let’s not jump on this bandwagon for CPF cuts at this point in time because by cutting CPF, we will create a whole series of other problems.

"We know we need to save for retirement. As it is, it is not enough and I wouldn’t want to use this tool so easily unless we have no other choice and it is one of last resort.

"I am quite sure that through the modifying of salaries and the restructuring of the salaries to have variable components, this is the time to do it and we will be able to manage without having to cut CPF at this time."

A union leader in the electronics industry hopes the recommendations will help turn the sector around.

Cyrille Tan, general secretary, United Workers of Electronic and Electrical Industries, said: "It is a very difficult period within the manufacturing sector and orders are down and many workers are without jobs.

"We hope that with SPUR and many other programmes coming in, employers within the sector will not go to retrenchment as a first resort, but try to give every worker a chance to go for retraining."

Singaporeans would have to prepare themselves for several announcements about jobs, wages and the economy over the next two weeks.

Channel NewsAsia understands that the NWC’s revised wage guidelines are scheduled to be announced on the Jan 16. The Trade and Industry Ministry is likely to give a fuller picture of last year’s economic performance just before Budget Day on Jan 22. — CNA/vm

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Govt will do its part during recession, but community urged to help too

Channel NewsAsia - Monday, January 12

SINGAPORE : Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday gave Singaporeans the assurance that the government will do its part to help, as the country grapples with the current recession.

He however added that an important part of the country’s response will also be how the community itself reaches out to make extra help and support available to fellow citizens when things are tough.

Giving out hong bao to needy residents in his constituency is an annual ritual for Mr Lee.

This time, at least 275 needy residents received S$100 in cash and a S$50 NTUC voucher each.

Still, things have not been easy for some residents he spoke to.

While Mr Lee was giving out hong bao to residents in his constituency on Sunday, there was also attention about a possibly bigger hong bao to be given out to all Singaporeans on Budget Day at the end of the month.

One resident said: "I was retrenched. So was my husband last month. Although we should not solely rely on the government for assistance, we still hope we can find a job through their help."

Another added: "Give money to people to buy things, then businesses, (and) the economy can go up."

And while help will be given, Mr Lee cautioned against over—reliance on handouts.

He said: "We are in this together...not as individuals or even just as each family on its own, but as one big family which is the Singapore family. But if everything depends on government schemes and it becomes a matter of bureaucratic organisation and entitlement, I think we will make this impersonal and we will weaken ourselves as a society.

"And instead of having a sense of mutual support and warmth and comradeship, we will cultivate a sense of reliance and ultimately a society that will not be as strong as it should be."

And so, as the Year of the Ox approaches, the animal’s characteristics — which Mr Lee described as strong but not aggressive and completely dependable — will be the way that Singapore hopes to get through this tough year. — CNA/ms

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More job losses to come !!!

Job losses in recession—hit Singapore could match levels of previous downturns

Channel NewsAsia - 2 hours 15 minutes ago

SINGAPORE: Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong has said the unemployment rate due to the current recession in Singapore could reach the levels recorded during the Asian financial crisis in 1998 and the economic downturn in 2001.

And, with the US and European economies likely to recover only in the second half of this year, Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang warned that recovery will be a slow process.

Both ministers laid out the jobs situation in Singapore in Parliament on Monday.

The industries that may be most affected by job losses are manufacturing, tourism, transport and wholesale trade. These are the sectors that are most exposed to the external economic environment. The financial services sector will also remain weak.

Mr Gan said based on preliminary numbers, some 8,100 workers were either laid off or facing retrenchments in the fourth quarter of last year and over the next few months.

Already, some 7,400 workers lost their jobs in the first three quarters of last year, two thirds of whom are locals.

The silver lining is that more than 30,000 new jobs will be available in growth sectors such as construction, healthcare, public administration and the integrated resorts.

Mr Gan said: "Close to 30,000 workers were retrenched in 1998 due to the Asian financial crisis, and about 26,000 workers were retrenched during the economic downturn in 2001. If our economy were to contract sharply this year, it is possible that retrenchments could reach these levels seen in previous recessions."

Also speaking in Parliament, Minister Lim said Singapore’s job losses will increase and consumer sentiment will weaken as the manufacturing and financial industries slow further this year.

He said the economic slump has spread to all parts of the economy.

Mr Lim said 2009 will be a difficult year with consumer demand in key exports markets such as the US and Europe expected to remain weak.

As such, the manufacturing sector will continue to face a slowdown.

The financial sector meanwhile is expected to see a sharp decline because of the impact of the financial crisis.

Mr Lim also said weaker consumer sentiment among Singaporeans has affected the retail sector and the property market.

But he said there are still sectors that are showing positive growth.

These sectors collectively make up slightly less than 10 per cent of the economy. As such, Mr Lim said their growth will not be able to compensate for the decline in other sectors.

Mr Lim also said the government’s S$2.3 billion loan support package for businesses in Singapore has been "promising".

Giving an update in Parliament, Mr Lim said banks’ loan commitments increased even before the scheme was introduced in December last year.

For the whole of last year, loan commitments rose by 50 per cent to over

S$1 billion, compared to S$680 million registered in the previous year.

Since the government—backed loans for businesses were launched in December, some 500 applications were received in that month alone.

Mr Lim added that the approved loans for December last year increased by 30 per cent over the same period in 2007, rising to S$80 million from S$62 million.

— CNA/938LIVE/ir

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Civil servant rapped over cooking holiday

Channel NewsAsia - 1 hour 2 minutes ago

SINGAPORE — A senior Singaporean civil servant has been reprimanded for publicising his family’s vacation at a top French cooking school when his country is suffering from a recession, a minister said Monday.

"It struck a discordant note during the current difficult economic circumstances when it is especially important to show solidarity and empathy for Singaporeans who are facing uncertainties and hardship," Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said in parliament.

The civil servant, Tan Yong Soon, wrote early this month in a local newspaper about his family’s experience learning to cook at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

He said he attended with his wife and son. Tan, permanent secretary at the ministry of environment and water resources , showed "a lack of sensitivity" and poor judgement, the minister said.

The head of the civil service has already spoken to Tan about the matter, the minister added.

"What the civil servant in question, Mr Tan, does during his vacation leave, this is (a) private decision," said Teo, who is also minister in charge of the civil service.

"However, I was disappointed with what he wrote in to The Straits Times."

According to the newspaper, a basic cuisine course at Le Cordon Bleu costs S$15,500. — AFP/vm

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NTUC says more youths aged under 30 will start feeling impact of downturn

Channel NewsAsia - Monday, January 19

SINGAPORE: More youths aged under 30 will start to feel the impact of the recession as the year progresses.

The unemployment rate for this group of youths was 4.1 per cent recently but NTUC said it is likely to go up this year.

However, the labour movement said, the figure is still far better than those in other countries at the moment.

And, among the 55,800 unemployed in Singapore, about 31 per cent of them are youths.

The present economic downturn is the first major one for many young adults.

To help prepare them if they get the axe, NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) held a retrenchment simulation exercise.

NTUC said there are about 6,000 immediate job vacancies across all sectors at the moment. But the main challenge when it comes to young adults is managing their own expectations.

NTUC Assistant Secretary General, Josephine Teo, said: "The terms and conditions of employment may not be what they expect. So the purpose of this activity (retrenchment simulation exercise) is also to help them to understand that challenges are now different and therefore they also have to adjust their expectations accordingly."

Despite the downturn, Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said Singapore could still rely on its strong dollar and reserves.

"Because if the whole economy is in doubt or it collapses and nobody even believes in your currency anymore — like it has happened in some countries like Iceland — then we’re really in deep trouble," he said.

— CNA/ir

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S'pore ministers' pay may be cut 20 pct this year-media

Reuters - Tuesday, January 20

SINGAPORE, Jan 20 - The annual salaries of Singapore's ministers and senior civil servants are expected to fall by 12 to 20 percent this year in line with the shrinking economy, local media reported on Tuesday.

Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also minister in charge of the civil service, told Parliament on Monday that senior permanent secretaries and entry-grade ministers will likely receive S$1.54 million , which is a drop of 20 percent from last year.

Younger officers in the elite Administrative Service -- typically top performers in their early to mid-30s -- will receive S$351,000 or about 12 percent less, Teo added.

"As the salaries are linked to economic performance, the 2009 salaries may be subject to further adjustments given the volatility of the economy," he said.

Singapore pegs ministers and senior civil servants' pay to top earners in the private sector, saying it needs to pay well to retain talent in the government service.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last year received an estimated S$3.76 million, about five times the annual salary of outgoing U.S. President George W Bush.

Singapore, which became the first Asian economy to slip into recession last year, has forecast the economy could shrink by up to 2 percent this year.

It is considering dipping into its reserves worth hundreds of billions of dollars for the first time to tackle the slump, officials were quoted as saying on Monday. [iD:nSP388780]

The government could draw on the central bank's foreign reserves that totalled $174.2 billion in December, or its two secretive sovereign funds GIC and Temasek that had at least a combined $230 billion in assets in reported figures last year.

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Job losses to cut Singapore population by 4 pct: bank

AFP - Wednesday, January 21

SINGAPORE, Jan 20, 2009 (AFP) - Tiny Singapore's population is expected to decline by 200,000 as companies lay off a massive number of foreign workers during a worsening recession, Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse said.

The job cuts, which would include highly-paid expatriates and permanent residents, will hurt domestic consumption and help push the economy into its sharpest decline since independence in 1965, said the report received by AFP on Tuesday.

A loss of 200,000 jobs would amount to more than four percent of the population.

Credit Suisse said the economic slowdown in the trade-sensitive city-state had so far been driven by a sharp decline in exports, while domestic demand held up.

But for this year, "consumption growth should also slow, in part because of our expectation that Singapore's population will potentially drop by 200,000 by 2010" due to job losses, it said.

"Historically, Singapore's foreign population has tended to expand during high growth periods and contract during recessionary periods," the report said.

"Given the strong foreigner population growth in recent years, this trend is unlikely to change in this downturn."

Of the 800,000 jobs created from 2004 to the third quarter of last year, Credit Suisse estimated that more than 500,000 were filled by foreigners and permanent residents.

About 200,000 of those jobs were in manufacturing and almost another 200,000 were in the financial and business services. Most of these jobs were filled by expatriate workers who earn more than the average Singaporean, it said.

"As a result, job losses are likely to hit the Singaporean economy hard because they affect more highly paid workers and could result in a semi-permanent drop in the population," the report said.

As of mid-2008, Singapore had a total estimated population of 4.84 million people, including 3.64 million citizens and permanent residents, Statistics Department data showed. The rest, more than one million, are foreign workers and their families.

With the impact of falling domestic demand exacerbating declining exports, the economy was likely to contract by 2.8 percent this year, Credit Suisse said.

This would leave the economy in its worse shape ever, after 2001 when it shrank by 2.4 percent.

The economy grew 1.5 percent last year compared with 7.7 percent in 2007.

Despite the expected layoffs, Singapore's Acting Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong said the city-state would still need overseas labour.

Gan said that foreign workers allowed Singapore companies to remain globally competitive and contributed to keeping jobs within the country.

"If companies become uncompetitive in Singapore, they may decide to relocate to other countries and we will lose more jobs. This will be a lose-lose outcome," he said in parliament Monday.

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Finance Min Tharman: The worst is yet to come

Global economic crisis will take more than a year to unravel: Tharman

Channel NewsAsia - Friday, January 30

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam says it will take more than a year for the global economic crisis to unravel.

Speaking to Bloomberg Television on Thursday, Mr Tharman says the world has yet to see the worst of the downturn, as banks are still in contraction mode and focused on recapitalisation, rather than lending.

He said, "The foreign banks are still in the mode of contraction. I think every large global bank is still looking at building up its capital, much more than it’s looking at extending new loans. So we are still at that phase of the crisis where recapitalisation is still the priority and estimates of the extent of bad assets on their books are still on the upswing. So, we haven’t seen the worst yet."

Mr Tharman says that is why it is a good move for governments in the West to help these banks recapitalise and incentivise lending.

The minister also responded to criticism from some quarters that Singapore’s economic growth model makes the country vulnerable to swings in global demand.

Mr Tharman says the country’s future and fortunes are tied to global markets.

As for investments by Temasek Holdings and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp in overseas banks, Mr Tharman says they have so far been so good, performing credibly by international standards.

— CNA/yt

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7,000 S'poreans lost jobs in last quarter of 2008

Thousands layed off in Singapore in fourth quarter: govt

AFP - Saturday, January 31

SINGAPORE, Jan 30, 2009 (AFP) - Companies in Singapore laid off 7,000 workers in the last three months of 2008, as the economy slipped deeper into recession, the government said Friday.

More than half of the layoffs were in the key manufacturing sector, which has been hit by a sharp decline in demand for the city-state's exports, the Ministry of Manpower said in a statement citing preliminary estimates.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 2.6 percent in December, up from 2.2 percent in September and 1.7 percent in December 2007, it said.

The 7,000 workers laid off in the December quarter compared with 2,346 employees who lost their jobs in the preceding three months and 1,966 for the same period in 2007, the ministry said.

For the whole of 2008, there were 13,400 workers laid off, up from 7,675 the year before.

Employment also slowed significantly to 26,900 in the fourth quarter of last year, from 55,700 people who were hired in the preceding quarter and 62,500 in the same period in 2007.

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam warned last week the country is facing its worst recession since independence 44 years ago and announced a record stimulus package of more than 13 billion US dollars.

Singapore in October became the first Asian economy to enter recession, falling victim to a global slowdown sparked by a crisis in the US housing market.

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Chartered Semiconductor announces Q4 loss, cuts 540 jobs in Singapore

Channel NewsAsia - Friday, January 30

SINGAPORE: Chartered Semiconductor, one of the world’s largest microchip makers, announced on Friday it would cut 600 jobs worldwide — about eight per cent of its total workforce.

This will help the company save some US$16 million annually in payroll and benefits.

Channel NewsAsia understands that about 540 workers in Singapore will be affected by the retrenchment exercise.

Chartered said it is currently working with the unions on a retrenchment package for affected staff.

This came as the company, which is listed in Singapore as well as on the Nasdaq in New York, reported a fourth—quarter net loss of US$114 million.

It said revenues for the three months ended December 31 were down by 24 per cent at US$351.7 million, compared to the third quarter of 2008.

The fall was largely due to the "unprecedented rate of decline in semiconductor demand worldwide".

For the full year 2008, Chartered reported a net loss of US$92.6 million compared with a net income of US$101.7 million the previous year.

Looking ahead, Chartered said the negative macroeconomic environment and weakening demand will continue to affect its business in a significant way.

It is already projecting a 32 per cent fall in revenues for the first quarter of 2009, compared with the fourth quarter of 2008.

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May dip into reserves again

Singapore finmin says economic woes deepening

Reuters - Friday, February 6

SINGAPORE, Feb 5 - Singapore's finance minister said on Thursday the economic downturn was worsening and the government may have to tap its multi-billion dollar pool of reserves for another fiscal stimulus package next year.

Singapore was the first country in Asia to fall into recession last year and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam reiterated a forecast made before the country's January stimulus package that the economy could shrink up to 5 percent this year.

"We are seeing continued momentum in the decline week by week," Tharman told parliament at a budget debate.

Singapore, a tiny city-state of 4.6 million, last month took the unprecedented step of drawing on its reserves to help finance a S$20.5 billion stimulus package as its economy shrunk for the third straight quarter. [iD:nSP404398].

Tharman said the stimulus package was sufficient. It will result in a budget deficit of about 6 percent of gross domestic product for 2009/2010 before investment income and the top-up from reserves.

"There is a possibility the government may have to go back to the president and the CPA in a year's time to seek a further draw," Shanmugaratnam said, referring to the Council of Presidential Advisers. Singapore's president, whose role is otherwise largely ceremonial, is the formal guardian of the reserves.

A senior politician said on Sunday the government would dip into the reserves only in times of crisis and to pay for welfare.

"As a general principle, the government must continue to fund such programmes out of revenues raised in the current term of government, not past reserves," former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said

Singapore's two sovereign funds, Temasek [TEM.UL] and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp, or GIC, together manage an estimated $400 billion in assets. (Reporting by Kevin Lim; Writing by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Jan Dahinten)

[yikai]

omg 400 BILLION!! just gimme 0.0001% i will happy le =)

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Temasek CEO Ho Ching to quit after rocky ride

Reuters - Saturday, February 7

By Kevin Lim and Saeed Azhar

SINGAPORE, Feb 6 - Ho Ching will step down as the chief executive of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, as it faces a difficult time after a turmoil in global markets slashed the value of its investments.

Chip Goodyear, the former CEO of BHP Billiton, will replace Ho, wife of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, on Oct. 1. The move will help Temasek to build a more global image from a fund viewed in some quarters as an agent of the Singapore government.

Temasek, which had assets worth S$185 billion ($123 billion) as of March 2008 , is nursing losses from its high profile investments in Merrill Lynch and Barclays <BARC.L> as it aggressively expanded outside its core Asian market.

"These are turbulent times and I'm sure she must have had a stressful time this year," said David Cohen, economist at Action Economics in Singapore.

Temasek's $5 billion plus investment in Merrill alone has resulted in a loss of more than $2 billion.

The state investor controls some of the most high profile Singaporean companies including Singapore Airlines <SIAL.SI> and Singapore Telecommunications <STEL.SI>, and has stakes in global firms such as Standard Chartered <STAN.L>.

Temasek Chairman S. Dhanabalan said 55-year-old Ho's decision to step down was not linked to performance and it was too early to determine if investments made in the last two years will lose out in the long-term.

"The team has already embarked on a different stance since mid-2007, and has begun to review its long-term plans under different scenarios prompted by the economic downturn," Dhanabalan said at a media briefing.

"If we are to bring in new leadership, it would be just as good a time as any to involve a new leader in this review."

Ho is stepping down after a five-year stint as the CEO.

Goodyear, 51, left BHP Billiton in early 2008. He joined Temasek's board on Sunday.

"Goodyear understands the financial crisis and having an expertise within metals and mining is very good for the future because that is where all the investors will be," Christoffer Moltke-Leth, head of sales trading at SAXO Capital Markets in Singapore.

Asked whether he had the necessary experience to lead Temasek, Goodyear told a news conference he started his career as an investment banker at Kidder Peabody where he advised corporations on mergers and acquisitions and financing.

"In the resources business, our payoff times are decades," he said.

Ho Ching, who will also resign from the Temasek board, joined Temasek as a director in January 2002 and has been CEO since January 2004.

(Additional reporting by Singapore bureau, Editing by Anshuman Daga)

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We will survive crisis: Minister

Trade minister says Singapore poised to weather downturn

Channel NewsAsia - Tuesday, February 10

SINGAPORE: Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said the country’s GDP forecast of —5 per cent to —2 per cent reflects a sober yet realistic view of the economic prospects for 2009.

Outlining the year ahead, Mr Lim also noted that there are reasons to be optimistic. He told Parliament on Monday that faced with the current recession, the country is better off for pursuing strong economic growth in the good years.

Mr Lim said the critical uncertainty is the recovery of the G3 economies, Japan, the EU and particularly the US.

He gave the strategic rationale behind the GDP forecast of between —5 and —2 per cent.

Mr Lim said: "The higher end of our forecast range is premised on the G3 economies recovering albeit weakly, in the second half of 2009. The lower end of our forecast range is based on the G3 economies not recovering until 2010."

So to help companies tide over this period, the government’s strategy is to help ease cashflow.

Adding to schemes like the Jobs Credit and Special Risk—sharing Initiative will be the Export Coverage Scheme from next month. The aim is to provide better access to trade credit insurance cover for Singapore—based companies.

IE Singapore will administer the scheme, which is expected to support up to S$4 billion worth of trade turnover and benefit some 1,000 Singapore—based companies.

Credit financing and cost alleviation aside, Mr Lim noted companies will also need to develop capabilities to take advantage of the eventual upturn.

So the government will set aside S$660 million over the next two years to help companies seek new markets and growth opportunities.

IE Singapore, tasked with spearheading the development of Singapore’s external trade, will set aside S$66 million to enhance its internationalisation and export—promotion activities.

Singapore’s enterprise development agency, SPRING, will enhance its capability development schemes under a new S$200 million programme called the Business Upgrading Initiatives for Long—term Development (BUILD).

As for the performance of individual industry clusters, the general sense is that while all major sectors like petrochemicals, biomedical manufacturing and precision engineering are hit, all are positioned for growth.

For example, the biomedical manufacturing sector will increase its hiring by bringing in 900 jobs this year.

Moving forward, Mr Lim said while Singapore’s small size makes it more vulnerable to global markets, it also allows the country to respond more nimbly to opportunities when they arise.

Mr Lim said: "Growth has helped us to build up healthy balance sheets. Growth has helped us to build up valuable skills and capabilities in our industry sectors and in our workers. Growth has made possible a strong investment pipeline that is helping to create jobs even through this recession."

Mr Lim added that also going for Singapore is the Asian growth story, which is still intact. With the region poised for rapid recovery, he said Singapore will be ready to capture the new opportunities. — CNA/vm

[kueytoc]

Singapore exports in biggest fall on record: govt

AFP - Tuesday, February 17

SINGAPORE (AFP) - - Singapore's key exports in January fell by the largest amount on record, the government said Tuesday, releasing data showing further evidence of the city-state's deepening recession.

Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) fell by 34.8 percent in January compared with the same month a year earlier, said International Enterprise Singapore, the government's trade promotion agency.

It is the biggest fall since the government began year-on-year comparisons in 1977 and exceeds the previous record of a 30.7 percent drop in September 2001, after Al-Qaeda's attacks on the United States.

January's decline was the ninth consecutive contraction and was almost in line with the 34.5 percent median forecast in a poll of economists by Dow Jones Newswires.

The decline last month exceeded the 20.8 percent year-on-year fall recorded in December, the data showed.

Shipments to all 10 key markets were lower in January, with exports to the major United States market falling 50.0 percent, the agency said.

The city-state is Southeast Asia's wealthiest economy in terms of gross domestic product per capita but its heavy dependence on trade makes it sensitive to economic disturbances in developed nations, whose economies are suffering in the world's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Singapore in October became the first Asian economy to enter recession.

NODX to China -- whose economy slowed dramatically at the end of 2008 -- were down 51.6 percent, the agency said.

On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, NODX fell by 3.2 percent in January after the previous month's 11 percent decrease, it added.

The key exports were worth 10.04 billion Singapore dollars (6.69 billion US) in January, a fall of 34.8 percent from a year earlier, data showed.

Almost 40 percent of the NODX value comes from electronic products such as disk drives but the category fell by 38.4 percent last month.

That was the sector's worst single-month fall since September 2001, said Song Seng Wun, regional economist with CIMB-GK Research.

Non-electronic exports, including chemicals, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, were down 32.4 percent, International Enterprise Singapore said.

Overall, the January fall was bad, "but it could have been worse," Song said.

"It's bad, but in line with what we see in Taiwan, Korean and Chinese markets."

Singapore twice downgraded its growth forecasts in January.

The government now sees shrinkage of between 2.0 and 5.0 percent for this year, after estimated growth of 1.2 percent in 2008.

But Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam warned this month the economic crisis will be drawn out.

"We are seeing continued momentum in the economy declining week by week," he said.

[kueytoc]

Here we go again...SIA to cut costs: ground staff, planes !!!

Singapore Airlines to cut capacity, ground planes

AP - Monday, February 16

SINGAPORE - Singapore Airlines Ltd. said it plans to reduce flights and ground more than a dozen planes as people travel less amid the global economic slowdown.

The carrier said it will reduce capacity by 11 percent between April and March 2010 from the previous twelve months and decommission 17 aircraft after air cargo shipments fell 20 percent recently.

"The drop in air transportation has been sharp and swift," the company said in a statement Monday. "We have to face the reality that 2009 is going to be a very difficult year."

Singapore Airlines said last month that it planned to cut flights to the U.S., Europe and Asia as demand dried up. The airline said last week its October-December profit fell 43 percent as it flew 4.2 percent fewer passengers.

The airline said it met with worker unions Monday to discuss voluntary leave without pay, voluntary early retirement and shorter work months. Managers will cut their salaries first if necessary, the carrier said.

"We will contemplate retrenchment only as a last resort, but we do not have the luxury of time," the company said. "We need to agree and act on some measures quickly so that we can push back the point of retrenchment as far as possible."

Singapore is facing its worst recession since splitting from Malaysia in 1965 as exports plummet. Gross domestic product shrank a seasonally adjusted, annualized 16.9 percent in the fourth quarter, and the government expects GDP in 2009 to contract as much as 5 percent.

[kueytoc]

GIC lost SGD50B last year: sources

Singapore's GIC losses about 33 bln US dlrs: sources

AFP - Wednesday, February 18

SINGAPORE, Feb 17, 2009 (AFP) - Government of Singapore Investment Corp, which has helped bail out troubled global financial institutions, suffered an investment loss of about 50 billion Singapore dollars (33 billion US) last year , sources told Dow Jones Newswires on Tuesday.

In late 2007 and early last year GIC injected billions of dollars into Swiss bank UBS as well as US banking giant Citigroup, both of which suffered massive losses from US subprime, or higher-risk, mortgage investments.

Subprime troubles later evolved into the worldwide financial slowdown.

"The loss on the investment portfolio last year is estimated at around 45 billion to 50 billion," one of two people familiar with the GIC situation told Dow Jones.

"But, GIC has no thoughts to sell down any of its major investments. They'll wait until they recover."

UBS this month posted an annual loss of 17 billion US dollars, the largest in Swiss corporate history, and announced 2,000 new job cuts.

A second person said GIC's investment loss last year was "recently estimated to be similar to Temasek's."

The portfolio of Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings, which helped bail out Wall Street icon Merrill Lynch, fell about 31 percent over eight months last year, Senior Minister of State for Finance Lim Hwee Hua told parliament last week.

She said Temasek's portfolio of investments fell to 127 billion dollars at the end of November, down 58 billion from 185 billion dollars on March 31 last year.

Lim said it was not the first time GIC and Temasek had seen major declines in markets, and that GIC had "creditable returns" over the 20-year period to late 2008.

Asked for comment on the Dow Jones report, a GIC spokesman said the firm did not comment on "speculative reports".

GIC, one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, in September said its nominal rate of return over the 20 years to March 31 last year was 7.8 percent in US dollar terms.

"Temasek and GIC are long-term investors, and should be evaluated as such," Lim said. "GIC and Temasek have the ability and resources to weather the ups and downs, over multiple economic and market cycles."

[yikai]

hope this recession tides over soon ):

[kueytoc]

Not so SOONZZZ...Prepare for tough times: PM

S'pore economy may shrink by 5%: PM Lee

Reuters - Monday, February 23

SINGAPORE, Feb 23 - Singapore's economy could contract by more than a government forecast of between -2 and -5 percent this year if the global economy continues to shrink, the Business Times quoted Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as saying.

"Our GDP growth is forecast to be between -2 and -5 percent. It could be worse if the global economy worsens, even lower than -5 percent is possible," Lee was quoted as saying at a government function on Sunday.

The government slashed its growth projection on Jan 21 to a contraction of between 2 and 5 percent, from a range of minus 2 percent to plus 1 percent.

Like other export-reliant Asian economies, tiny Singapore has been pummeled by a collapse in consumer demand as economies slow sharply around the world.

In January, Lee said the government's S$20.5 billion ($13.4 billion) stimulus package would not immediately lift the country out of a recession, which may possibly last for the whole of 2009.

In the speech to unionists and white collar professionals on Sunday, Lee said the next six months would be tough for Singapore as economic fallout in Eastern Europe could worsen the global recession, led by tthe United States and the European Union.

"It is a big problem for the European banks who are exposed to Eastern Europe, it is a problem for Asia too because the same European banks are very active and big lenders in Asia," the Strait Times quoted him as saying.

"So let us prepare for a very tough year ahead and let us be psychologically raedy to think in terms of several slow years after that."

Last month the government said in its budget it would for the first time tap government reserves to pay for a stimulus package to help companies and save jobs, as the country grapples with its worst-ever recession.

Singapore's non-oil exports fell 34.8 percent in January from a year earlier, the worst fall since records began in 1977, and analysts said the worst is yet to come.

Lee said the next two quarters would be "especially tough and let's fasten seat belts."

[kueytoc]

PM Lee: Expect long years of slowdown

Singapore PM warns of lengthy global slump

AP - Saturday, February 28

CHA-AM, Thailand - Singapore's leader Prime has warned the global economic slump may last several more years if the U.S. doesn't fix its creaking banking system, a newspaper reported Saturday.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien also called on President Barack Obama to resist pressure from the American public for protectionist policies such as trade barriers to protect homegrown industries during the downturn.

Lee, in Thailand for the 14th annual summit of Southeast Asian leaders, told the Bangkok Post in a pre-summit interview that the U.S. _ the world's largest economy _ will be in recession for at least the rest of the year and could continue to stumble after that.

"So you could easily be in for several years of quite slow growth worldwide. And I think it's best that we prepare for that, and prepare our people," said Lee, son of Lee Kuan Yew, the city-state's leader from 1959 to 1990.

Leaders and top officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations _ a region of more than 500 million people _ are gathered in the Thai resort town of Cha-Am, 120 miles (200 kilometers) south of the capital Bangkok, for the grouping's 14th summit.

The meeting, usually dominated by human rights issues, is overshadowed this year by the global economic meltdown, which has already dragged the export-dependent region's most advanced economy _ Singapore _ into recession.

Thailand's economy shrank in the fourth quarter and others like Malaysia and Indonesia are facing rapidly slowing growth as exports crumble. Singapore warns that its economy will contract as much as 5 percent this year.

The region _ which groups one of Asia's richest nations with some of its poorest _ is at the mercy of global economic winds, particularly from the U.S., a major export market for Southeast Asian countries.

U.S. banks are loaded with hundreds of billions of dollars of toxic assets after the overheated American housing market imploded last year, sending shock waves through the global financial system.

Lee said fixing ailing banks in the U.S. and some major European nations will require politically difficult and costly decisions such as nationalization, massive injections of capital, or governments buying the banks' bad assets. All involve nationalizing the banks "one way or another," he said.

"I think the choices are not easy but they have to be made. If you do not make a choice then the outcome will be like what happened in Japan in the 1990s and it went on for more than a decade because the problem just lingered," said Lee.

On protectionism, Lee said the openness of the U.S. economy had for years driven the increase in global trade and rising prosperity, all of which was at stake if the U.S. turned inward.

"If America turns inward, it is going to do the world a lot of harm and do themselves a lot of harm," he said.

[baudi]

we need a poll. 'Given the current recession what has happened to your spending on this hobby' more, same, less, alot less....