Singapore bank lending weakens in December: MAS

BANK lending in Singapore was down 0.3 per cent in December from the previous month, preliminary data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Wednesday showed.

This reversed from the 0.6 per cent month-on-month gain in November.

Loans through the domestic banking unit - which captures lending in all currencies, but mainly reflects Singapore-dollar lending - stood at S$652 billion in December, down from S$654 billion in November.

Business loans fell 0.8 per cent to S$390 billion in December, as compared to the 0.5 per cent increase enjoyed in November from a month ago.

Consumer loans grew 0.4 per cent to S$262 billion in December, compared to the 0.9 per cent gain in November.

From a year ago, bank lending in December was up 5.6 per cent. This was weaker than the 7.1 per cent year-on-year growth in November.