SINGAPORE - Singapore on Thursday declared a severe recession over as data showed its economy grew for the second straight quarter in the three months to September.

Official data released Thursday showed gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 14.2 per cent in the July-September period on a quarter-on-quarter annualised basis following a 21.7 per cent surge in the previous quarter.

'Effectively, the recession in Singapore is over,' Ravi Menon, the permanent secretary with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), said at a media briefing.

Year-on-year, Singapore's GDP grew 0.6 per cent in the third quarter compared with a 3.3 per cent contraction in the April-June period, the MTI said in its third quarter economic survey.

In its outlook for 2010, the ministry forecasted economic growth of 3.0-5.0 per cent while maintaining its existing projection of a contraction of 2.0-2.5 per cent this year.

Singapore's trade-reliant economy was the first in Asia to sink into a recession last year as the global downturn hit demand for its exports, especially from the United States.

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