Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday the Government would revise downwards its growth forecast, the third amendment in less than four months.

However, he did not see the figures slipping into the 'double-digit range'.

The further contraction stems from the continuing slide in exports caused by the global economic slowdown, he said.

Currently, the official forecast range is -2 to -5 per cent.

The latest downgrade will be out on Tuesday when the Trade and Industry Ministry releases its official forecast, and 'we must expect them to revise the forecast down', Mr Lee said.

'I think it will be poorer than what we had projected in January before the Budget, when we said it was between -2 and -5 per cent ... But I do not think it will be in the double-digit range,' he added.

He did not elaborate, but in pointing to the worsening trade figures, he cited how Japan's February exports had halved.

'Our exports went down by one-third. If you look at February and March, it's about hanging in there or even up a little bit, but basically at a very low level.'

To add to the grim outlook, Mr Lee said layoffs for the first three months of this year would probably exceed 10,000. The figure would be the worst ever, surpassing the quarterly peak of 8,590 seen in the last quarter of 2001, following the dot.com bust and the Sept 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.