Bank lending in Singapore up 1.1% in Dec

BANK lending in Singapore rose 1.1 per cent in December 2016 from the month before, compared to the 0.4 per cent growth in November, preliminary data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Tuesday showed. The lift was mainly from stronger business lending.

Loans through the domestic banking unit - which captures lending in all currencies but mainly reflects Singapore-dollar lending - stood at S$617 billion in December, up from S$611 billion in November.

Business loans rose 1.7 per cent in December from November, to S$367 billion, while consumer loans grew 0.3 per cent to S$250 billion.

Bank lending in December was up 2.9 per cent from a year ago.