As Asian markets plummet, the idea that local financial services jobs will be impervious to the credit crunch is looking wobblier by the day.

Citigroup said last week that it would be cutting another 4,200 jobs on top of the 17,000 already announced last year. It stressed that any Singapore losses will be “minimal”, but there’s increasing nervousness that banks hit by sub-prime losses elsewhere will nevertheless take an axe to their Asia Pac teams.

Rumour has it that a number of treasury and commercial banking positions have already been cut by Citi locally, with some other senior roles also thought to be in the spotlight.

Asia Pac recruiters, who (perhaps unsurprisingly) do not wish to be named, agree there has been talk of redundancies.

Asked whether jobs have gone, one recruiter’s grim comment was, “Yes, and many cuts to come.”

Another, more optimistically, points out it might be more a case of slower expansion than jobs actually going.

But he adds: “I don’t think the speculations…are all untrue, though I haven’t met anyone who has been asked to go as yet.”

Yet Adam Rahman, country corporate affairs director for Citi in Singapore, is adamant the overall picture for hiring on the island remains positive.

“Citi continues to grow strongly in Singapore. 2007 saw significant business growth and we expect the momentum to continue in 2008,” he tells us.

“There will be minimal headcount reductions in Singapore and we expect to continue hiring and investing in our growth,” he emphasises.

“Citi’s businesses in Asia Pacific also saw a record year across all business lines, with revenues up 33% to US$13.8bn and net income up 46% to US$4.6bn, making Citi Asia the top net contributor by region for Citi globally in 2007,” he adds.

Rahman’s comments follow upbeat noises from Stephen Roberts, chief executive of Citi markets and banking for Australia and New Zealand, who has also said he does not expect job losses there to be significant.

More widely, the economic slowdown in the US has led the bank to cut its 2008 GDP growth forecasts for Singapore, which is a key exporter to the US, from 6.2% to 5.6%.