Singapore bank lending dips further in October

Singapore

SINGAPORE's bank lending fell for the eighth straight session in October, dragged down by a continued slump in business loans.

This comes even as consumer loans have been rising steadily, data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore showed on Monday.

Loans through the domestic banking unit - which captures lending in all currencies, but reflects mainly Singapore-dollar lending - inched down 0.3 per cent to S$675.64 billion in October, compared with S$677.46 billion in September.

Loans to businesses recorded the seventh straight month of contraction in October, down 0.7 per cent to S$418.40 billion from S$421.28 billion a month ago.

Financial institutions led the slump, with loans to the segment tumbling 2.4 per cent to S$96.99 billion.

Over the same period, loans to general commerce dipped 0.5 per cent to S$64.25 billion, loans to others fell 0.5 per cent to S$31.80 billion, and loans to manufacturing slid 0.7 per cent to S$25.89 billion.

Loans to the single-largest business lending segment - building and construction - came in flat at S$150.87 billion.

Consumer loans kept the growth streak alive, up 0.4 per cent month on month to S$257.24 billion in October, marking the third straight month in positive territory.

This was largely lifted by housing loans which climbed 0.3 per cent month on month to S$199.73 billion.

Unsecured personal loans, excluding credit cards, rose one per cent to S$37.43 billion over the same period.

Car loans ticked up 0.2 per cent to S$8.33 billion, while loans for share financing increased 2.8 per cent to S$1.92 billion.

Credit card loans bucked the trend, slipping 0.1 per cent to S$9.83 billion in October.

From a year ago, total business loans in October fell 2 per cent, while loans to consumers slid 2.2 per cent over the same period.

Overall, total bank lending in October was down 2 per cent year on year.