Singapore's economy to slow in 2008: PM

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Singapore's economic growth will slow down to as low as 4.5 percent this year due to uncertainty over the U.S. economy, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Reuters on Friday.

"We see it coming off. We had 7.5 percent last year, this year we forecast somewhere between 4.5-6.5 percent. Obviously there is some uncertainty because we don't know how the U.S. economy will perform and it will affect us," Lee said.

Lee said Singapore's sovereign wealth funds are commercially-driven and pursue long-term returns.

"(Our policy is) not to make bold and exciting moves but move cautiously and preserve the value, invest commercially for long-term sustainable returns."

He brushed off suggestions that sovereign wealth funds lacked transparency, saying Singapore's sovereign wealth funds the GIC and Temasek were transparent in their disclosures.

"We are quite open about what we do," he said.