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