Singapore - Singapore on Tuesday revised its total trade projection for this year to a drop of 22 to 25 per cent, from previous expectations of a decline of 17 to 19 per cent, citing weak export markets. Non-oil domestic exports for 2009 are expected to contract by 10 to 13 per cent, from an earlier projection of a 9 to 11-per-cent decline, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, a government trade agency, said.

The contraction in both Singapore's total trade and non-oil domestic exports was larger than expected for the first quarter of this year. Trade was down 28 per cent and exports 26 per cent, compared to a growth of 16 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively in the same period last year, the agency said.

The impact of the fall in global export demand was affecting Asia more severely than previously anticipated, it said.

In March trade declined by 24 per cent year-on-year, following a 22-per-cent decrease in the previous month, while exports were down 21 per cent, after dropping 24 per cent in February.

Imports declined by 28 per cent in March, after a 20-per-cent decrease in. (dpa)