No growth in bank lending in December: MAS

BANK lending showed no growth in December compared to a month ago, according to preliminary data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) released on Friday. This followed a 0.6 per cent increase in November.

Loans through the domestic banking unit - which mainly reflect Singapore-dollar lending - stood at S$608 billion in December.

Compared to a year ago, bank lending grew 5.9 per cent. This is the weakest growth since March 2010, data compiled by The Business Times showed.

Business loans contracted 0.4 per cent to S$372 billion in December compared to a month ago. This reversed from the 0.8 per cent growth posted in November. Business loans have been contracting for most of the second half of 2014.

Consumer loans gained 0.5 per cent to S$236 billion in December. This is slightly stronger than the 0.4 per cent gain in November.