'No V-shaped recovery' on the cards for Singapore

SINGAPORE: Singapore, which emerged from its deepest recession since independence last quarter, won't have a "V-shaped" recovery as a rebound in drug and electronics output may falter, Trade Minister Lim Hng Kiang said.

Demand for goods from the world's biggest economies in the US, Europe and Japan is still weak, and any pick-up in trade will be "bumpy," Lim said in an interview in Singapore.

The island's economy expanded an annualized 20.4 percent last quarter from the previous three months, the first growth in a year, prompting the government to raise its 2009 forecast for gross domestic product last week. Singapore's exports dropped the least in nine months in June, and Lim said the nation is benefiting from "good demand" from China and India.