Bank lending remains flat in July

Singapore

BANK lending in Singapore dipped ever so slightly in July from June, as a fall in loans to businesses offset a meagre rise in consumer borrowings, according to preliminary figures released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Friday.

Over the month, total domestic banking unit (DBU) loans slipped by S$0.3 billion to S$597.4 billion, staying flat in percentage terms from June (which was also unchanged from May).

As economists had expected, credit growth slowed on a year-on-year basis, …