This comes after its Singapore-based economists made headlines last month by saying that 100,000 Singaporeans could lose their jobs in the current downturn.

Mr Cem Karacadag and Mr Kun Lung Wu had also said that another 200,000 foreigners' jobs could be axed - a prediction they are sticking to as there was little in the Budget to help non-locals keep their jobs.

However, Budget measures such as the $4.5 billion Jobs Credit Scheme are likely to curtail retrenchments for Singaporean workers, Mr Karacadag said on Friday.

Originally, he had estimated that 50,000 jobs for locals would be lost this year and another 50,000 next year. But now he thinks this number could drop to 20,000 each year - and maybe even lower, if there are off-Budget measures to come.

But the Budget could do little to save the Singapore economy sliding into its worst downturn ever, said Mr Karacadag.

He has slashed his forecast for growth this year and now expects the economy to shrink by 5 per cent, from 2.8 per cent previously.

This would put his prediction at the lower end of the Government's official forecast that economy may shrink by between 2 and 5 per cent.