Singapore  - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Thursday that the city state's economic growth forecast for this year will have to be revised downwards from the current minus 2 per cent to minus 5 per cent as exports continue to be hit by the global economic slowdown.

But Lee said he did not think the decline would be double-digit.

Singapore's exports have been hit hard and the global situation was not looking any better, Lee told reporters during a visit to a local training and jobs placement centre.

The Straits Times cited the premier as saying that retrenchments were likely to cross 10,000 jobs in the first quarter.

But government measures and schemes supporting and saving jobs have kept the numbers in check, added Lee. (dpa)