KONTAN.CO.ID -  SINGAPORE. Singapore's record recession was deeper than first thought in the second quarter, data showed on Tuesday, signalling a lengthy path to recovery as the coronavirus pandemic dealt a major blow to Asia's trade-reliant economies.

The city-state has been hit hard by COVID-19 with the country under a lockdown for most of the second quarter to curb the spread of the virus.

"The painful truth is this - we are not returning to a pre-COVID world. Recovery will be some time yet," said trade minister Chan Chun Sing.

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The government said it now expects full-year GDP to contract between 5% and 7% versus its previous forecast for a 4% to 7% decline. The transport and tourism hub is facing the biggest downturn in its history, expected to wipe out years of previous economic expansion.

"The forecast for 2020 essentially means the growth generated over the past two to three years will be negated," said Chan, adding that the data was the economy's worst quarterly performance on record.

Gross domestic product (GDP) fell a record 13.2% year-on-year in the second quarter, revised government data showed, versus the 12.6% drop seen in advance estimates.

The economy plunged 42.9% from the previous three months on an annualised and seasonally adjusted basis, also a record and larger than the 41.2% contraction in the government's initial estimates.

Editor: Anna Suci Perwitasari