The currency fell for a sixth day, the longest stretch since Aug 12, on speculation investors will avoid emerging-market assets. The benchmark stock index slid to the lowest in more than three years.

'Overseas investors are probably fleeing from emerging- market assets as their risk-taking appetite is decreasing on worries over the credit crisis,' Takashi Yamamoto, chief trader at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp in Singapore, told Bloomberg.

'Singapore's dollar is likely to weaken further.'

The Singapore dollar fell to $1.4708 against the US dollar at 1.40pm in the city from $1.4647 late in Asia yesterday. It reached $1.4724, the weakest since Oct 10, 2007.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore will slow the pace of the local dollar's appreciation at its biannual foreign-exchange policy meeting on Oct 10, according to seven of 14 strategists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Four expect gains to be halted, two expect a shift down in the range for the currency's moves and only one predicts no change.

The Straits Times Index slid 5 per cent and the MSCI Asia- Pacific Index of regional shares fell 6.4 per cent. The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday the world's major banks may need US$675 billion (S$992 billion) in fresh capital over the next several years to recover from the credit crisis.

The local dollar has fallen 2.8 per cent this month and is the third-worst performer in the region outside of Japan. The Singapore Institute of Purchasing & Materials Management said on Oct 2 the purchasing managers' index declined 1.1 points to 49.5 last month, adding to signs the economy is cooling.