Singapore braces for recession after economy shrinks more than expected in first quarter

Singapore’s economy shrank 2.2 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier, preliminary data showed on Thursday, its biggest contraction in over a decade as the coronavirus outbreak prompted the city state to plan for a recession.The grim data is likely to add to fears that the global economy will contract in the first half of the year. Singapore is one of the world’s most open economies and one of the first to report quarterly growth data since the virus spread from China at the start of…