Singapore - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the city state has to prepare for tough times ahead and some years of slower economic growth in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

"So let us prepare for a very tough year ahead, and let us be psychologically ready to think of several slow years after that," media reports quoted Lee as saying at a meeting on Sunday with unionists and employers.

Lee stressed that it was unlikely that conditions would return anytime soon to what they were during the boom years from 2004-07, when Singapore's growth reached an average 7 or 8 per cent a year, The Straits Times newspaper reported.

It would be "not bad" if Singapore could get 2 or 3 per cent annual growth in the next four or five years, the prime minister added.

However, Singaporeans could remain confident because of the city- state's sizeable reserves and the fact that multinational companies see Singapore as a part of Asia's growth story, Lee said. (dpa)