Bank lending dips in February, dragged by weaker business loans: MAS

BANK lending in February fell from a month ago, dragged by a contraction in business loans for the third straight month.

Loans through the domestic banking unit - which will essentially capture lending in all currencies but mainly reflect Singapore-dollar lending - stood at S$604 billion in February, preliminary data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore showed. This fell 0.6 per cent from S$607 billion in January.

Business loans were down one per cent to S$366 billion from a month ago, due to a persistent drag from trade loans.

Consumer lending was flat at S$237 billion, compared to January.

From a year ago, bank lending was up 3.3 per cent, but this was weaker than the 4.3 per cent year-on-year gain posted in January.