Japan bank loans in November up 2.8%, fastest since 2009

Tokyo

JAPANESE bank lending unexpectedly rose at the fastest pace since 2009, a positive sign in an economy that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is trying to steer out of a deeper-than-expected recession.

Loans, excluding lending by local Shinkin banks that serve consumers and small businesses, rose 2.8 per cent in November from a year earlier, accelerating from a 2.4 per cent increase in October and the biggest gain since May 2009. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for a 2.4 per cent rise.