Singapore to restrict flow of foreign workers

       Singapore will restrict the flow of foreign workers as the global economic recession hits the city-state's robust growth, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.
       Singapore's annual economic growth slowed to just 1.1% in 2008, compared to around 8.2% between 2004-2007. The unemployment rate hit the highest level in five years for the export-dependent economy.
       "We will not continue to admit people at this pace," Mr Lee said in a speech to students at Nanyang Technological University on Tuesday.
       More than 100,000 foreign workers arrived in Singapore every year in the last few years as the economy boomed,taking the total number of foreigners to almost one million, Mr Lee said. Temporary residents and non-Singaporeans who take up permanent residency make up about 35% of the country's 4.84 million population.