NEEDY students and fresh graduates will get more help this year with the introduction of additional bursaries, a short term financial help scheme and the suspension of repayment of tuition fees.

The measures which will benefit at least 80,000 students from primary to post-secondary levels, will cost the Ministry of Education $44.4 million - more than double the $20.7 million spent last year.

SINGAPORE'S state-owned investment companies have not been spared the fallout from the global market downturn.

The net portfolio value of Temasek Holdings fell 31 per cent between March 31 and Nov 30 last year, from $185 billion to $127 billion, Senior Minister of State for Finance Lim Hwee Hua revealed in Parliament on Tuesday.

SINGAPORE is not a tax haven even as the Government cuts the corporate tax rate to 17 per cent this year.

The Republic has low but not no tax; strong rule of law; companies with substantive business activities, and it is now considering adopting an internationally-recognised standard for the exchange of tax information, said Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport Lim Hwee Hua in Parliament on Tuesday.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) said on Tuesday its net profit fell an annual 42.8 per cent in the third quarter to December as it carried fewer passengers and cargo due to the global economic downturn.

SIA, one of Asia's major airlines, forecast a bleak outlook for this year, confirming projections by economists that the global economic situation will worsen before improving.