SINGAPORE: Singapore’s financial institutions are well capitalised and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), says Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
He was speaking to reporters on Sunday at a community event where he joined Muslims to break fast.
Mr Tharman said: "We are glad that overall, if you look at what is happening in Singapore compared to other financial centres, confidence in the market has been retained."
But Mr Tharman said a technical recession — defined by two consecutive quarters of economic contraction — is possible in Singapore.
Nonetheless, he cautioned that it is important for Singapore not to have any knee—jerk reactions, and to continue to monitor the global financial situation closely before announcing any plans.
Singapore’s non—oil domestic exports in August fell 13.8 per cent from the same month in 2007, the largest drop in the last year.
And with the current financial crisis, economists expect this figure to fall even further as global demand slows...
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2) Asia's stocks extend gains on proposed US bailout
HONG KONG (AP) -- Asian markets rose Monday after the U.S. government proposed a US$700 billion plan to solve the world financial crisis by rescuing banks from billions of dollars in risky mortgage debt.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index climbed 1.4 percent to close at 12,090.59 points , while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.2 percent.
In China, the Shanghai Composite Index soared 7.8 percent on hopes of a turnaround after government steps to stabilize the country's beaten down shares.
Markets in Australia and Taiwan advanced strongly after regulators in both countries issued curbs on short selling, following similar moves in the U.S, Britain and other countries. The practice, which bets on a stock's decline, has been partly blamed for driving down share prices.
Global markets had rallied Friday on news Washington was likely to announce a bailout plan, calming investors worried that losses from bad bets on mortgages could bring about the collapse of more companies, straining an already weakened financial system and global economy...
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