Singapore

BANK lending in Singapore expanded by 5.4 per cent in March from a year ago, faster than the 3.7 per cent pace of growth in February, as loans to financial institutions and home buyers grew strongly.

Loans through the domestic banking unit - which tracks lending in all currencies, but mainly reflects Singapore-dollar lending - stood at S$661.60 billion in March 2018 compared to S$627.95 billion in March 2017, according to preliminary data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore released on Monday.