SINGAPORE (Thomson Financial) - The exposure of Singapore financial institutions to the troubled US subprime mortgage market is small and problems from it are contained, Minister of State for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran told Parliament Monday.

Iswaran said it is too early to assess the full impact of the subprime crisis but he said Singapore will only be affected if economic growth in the US and Europe slows as a result of the housing and credit market troubles.

'If growth slows in these major economies (US and Europe), Singapore will be affected. Strong growth in the region and the diversity of our export markets will provide us some buffer, but we are not immune to a slowdown in major industrial economies,' he said.