Growth in bank lending in Singapore eases to 0.6% in July: MAS

BANK lending in July rose from June, but by a smaller extent compared to a month ago, preliminary data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) showed on Monday. This reflected weaker growth in business lending, given the big boost in construction loans in June.

Loans through the domestic banking unit - which essentially captures lending in all currencies but mainly reflects Singapore-dollar lending - stood at S$610 billion in July, up 0.6 per cent from June, the figures showed. In June, bank lending stood at S$607 billion, up 1.6 per cent from the month earlier.

Business loans rose by 0.6 per cent in July from a month ago to S$370 billion. This compared with the 2.3 per cent growth seen in June. That month, construction lending grew by a record 11.7 per cent on a monthly comparison.

Consumer lending was up 0.6 per cent in July to S$240 billion, growing at the same pace as seen in June.

From a year ago, bank lending in July was up 2.2 per cent, stronger than the 1.5 per cent year-on-year gain posted in June.