For the first time in a year, Singapore's economy grew, hiking 20% in the Q2, with the city-state coming out from its worst-ever recession.

According to Mr David Carbon, head of economic and currency research at DBS Group Holdings Ltd in Singapore, Asia is jumping back to recovery in a V-shaped fashion. He added that while exports have recovered about one-third of their lost territory, industrial production is 65 percent back to pre-crisis levels.

Via a statement on Tuesday, the Trade and Industry Ministry (MTI) specified that, in the three months through June, a jump in gross domestic product was seen to an annualized, seasonally-adjusted 20.4 per cent, compared with the previous quarter.

It continued that a fall by 3.7% was seen in GDP, as compared to the same period a year earlier. This came as a smaller contraction than the 9.6 per cent decline in the first quarter, following a recovery in manufacturing, especially drugs.

MTI made it clear that it expects the economy to contract between 4 per cent and 6 per cent this year, up from a previous forecast of a contraction between 6 per cent and 9 per cent.

The ministry said: "The revised 2009 forecast reflects the less severe contraction in the first half of the year, while the underlying economic conditions remain weak."

The previous four quarters witnessed Singapore's economy - which relies on exports, finance and tourism - contracting significantly, with an annualized, seasonally adjusted 16.4 per cent drop in the October-December period, meeting its deepest recession since its independence in 1965.

As per the ministry, the economy plunged an annualized, seasonally adjusted 12.7 per cent in the first quarter. This was an upward revision from the initial April estimate of a 19.7 per cent contraction.