WAGE growth in Singapore will probably halve to 2 to 2.5 per cent in 2009 from around 4 to 5 per cent this year if the country slides into a recession in the third quarter, a top labour union official said on Monday.

Halimah Yacob, deputy head of Singapore's dominant National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) - which represents about 500,000 workers across 1,200 firms - also said a wage-price spiral in Singapore was unlikely as employees curb salary expectations with the slowing global economy.

'A recession may temper negotiations. 2 percent, 2.5 percent - that is about the standard we see in bad times,' Mdm Halimah, who is also a member of parliament, said in an interview.

For more The Straits Times stories, click here.