Singapore, the city-nation, is facing the prospects of a slowdown that could derail the strong growth momentum witnessed during the last four years since 2003.

Barely half-a-decade after Singapore seemed to be regaining its lost economic prowess that earned it the title "Asian Tiger"an honor it shared with the other three East Asian giants namely, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong, before the Asian financial crisis of 1997 hit them badlythe island nation is once again facing the specter of a slowdown. "We see it coming off. We had 7.5% last year; this year we forecast somewhere between 4.5-6.5%. Obviously, there is some uncertainty because we don't know how the US economy will perform, and it will affect us," said Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's Prime Minister, in a veiled warning.

Loong's warning is reminiscent of the tough days in the wake of the worldwide economic recession and the tech meltdown during the early 2000, which saw it face its worst recession since the 1960s as the GDP fell from a high of 10% (its highest ever) to a negative 2% in 2001. That prompted the then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong to issue a warning that the city-nation needed `surgery,' in a reference to a restructuring that was required so as to meet the recessionary challenges and a new challenge in the form of China, which had just joined the WTO.

The Analyst Magazine, Singapore Economy, Asian financial crisis, East Asian giants, Gross Domestic Products, GDP, Financial Services, wealth Management, Services Sectors, Global Economy, Economic Recession, Global Financial Markets, Financial Management, International Businesses, Multinational Corporations, Business Environment.