Singapore on Thursday declared a severe recession over after two straight quarters of growth and predicted the economy would expand by up to 5.0 percent in 2010.

Sales of new private homes in Singapore plunged last month to just 811 units — well down on September's numbers and a clear sign that the Government's cooling measures have taken hold.

Singapore's exports stumbled in October as global demand for the city-state's electronics and petrochemicals languished.

Fresh from a makeover, luxury leather goods and clothing label Bally is out to woo fashionable Asians, but not at the expense of European and American customers who have been harder hit by the downturn.

Singapore on Friday joined the white list of countries that have fully implemented international standards to fight cross-border tax evasion set by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Finance Ministry said.

There is little the United States can do about the dollar's sinking value except restore confidence in its economy, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Friday.

Property cycles are hard to predict, but the Government of Singapore will try to avoid boom-bust cycles, said Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Singapore's central bank said it may be “necessary” to implement more measures to counter real- estate market speculation, joining China and Hong Kong in signaling a need to rein in soaring property prices.

Singapore's economy is set to grow by around three percent in 2010 after suffering its worst ever recession this year, former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew said in remarks published Monday.

Singapore's DBS Group Holdings Ltd. said Friday its third-quarter profit jumped 49 percent thanks to higher fees from stock broking and investment banking.