THE generous Budget unveiled yesterday, with $20.5 billion in recession-targeted spending, will probably add between 1 and 2 percentage points to Singapore's economic performance this year.

But economists said this has already been factored into their negative growth forecasts and will not pull the country out of recession. Even with the record deficit this year, the economy is officially tipped to shrink between 2 per cent and 5 per cent.

'The Budget is an extraordinary package for the gloomy road ahead. However, we are facing a global phenomenon, a problem too large for this unprecedented Budget to resolve,' said DBS economist Irvin Seah.

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