"Against this macroeconomic backdrop, the outlook for the Singapore economy remains cautiously positive, " the ministry said.
Singapore's economy expanded more than expected in the fourth quarter, boosted by the manufacturing sector.
Singapore's economy is expected to contract between 2 and 5 percent this year, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said last month.
Singapore's economy grew just over 1 percent for the entire year compared to a robust growth of 7.8 percent a year earlier, the ministry added.
Housing costs have risen almost nonstop as Singapore's economy recovered from the global financial crisis, and have been the cause of growing public complaints in recent years.
Regulators in Singapore like their counterparts in China and Hong Kong have tried to rein in property prices that have soared since Singapore's economy rebounded in late 2009, helped by abundant liquidity and low interest rates.
Its government plays a significant role in the economy, and Singapore is thriving.
Singapore is currently seeing its economy shrink at an annual rate of 10%.
Unlike Singapore, another booming Asian economy, Jen believes that China is too large of an economy not to have its own monetary policy and by extension an independent currency.
But then, with Singapore's trade-dependent economy facing its worst recession in history, most people have more prosaic worries.
Singapore's Straits Times Index gained 1.4% to 2, 298.71 after Singapore's government said its economy rose at an annualized and seasonally adjusted rate of 20.4% in the second quarter, the fastest expansion in nearly six years, beating market expectations.
Singapore and Hong Kong have benefited from the booming Asian economy, which has led many multinationals to open offices in the two financial centres.
On Monday, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) forecast growth of between 8% and 9% for the whole year, putting Singapore on a par with China, the fastest growing economy in Asia.
Last month, Singapore's ministry of trade said the country's economy shrank by more than 4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Singapore also raised its economic forecast for 2009, predicting the economy will shrink between 4% and 6% this year, less than its initial estimate for a 9% contraction.
China's currency and its trade surplus are expected to be key issues at this week's World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meeting, in Singapore, which will focus on global imbalances in the world economy.
In the future we will have to depend on immigrants to make up our numbers, for without them Singapore will face the prospect of a shrinking workforce and a stagnant economy.
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Similarly, Singapore credits only 70% for miles flown on All Nippon Airways in economy class and nothing for certain discount tickets.
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As Singapore has become wealthy, it has likewise made a transition to an IP-centered economy.
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Often they do not come back, and the economy suffers from the loss of their entrepreneurial skills they make neighbouring Singapore even richer instead.
Even in Singapore, as middle class as it gets in Southeast Asia, the fact that a booming economy leaves many behind isn't lost on this region.
Property prices in neighboring Singapore continued to shoot up (see the parenthetical reference to Hong Kong above) even though the economy there is being buffeted by the cruel export winds.
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