Singapore bank lending ticks down in January as business loans decline

• Feb 28, 2020

Bank lending ticked down by 0.2 per cent in January on a month-on-month basis amid declining business loans, preliminary Monetary Authority of Singapore data showed on Friday.

Loans through the domestic banking unit – which capture lending in all currencies, but reflect mainly Singapore-dollar lending – stood at S$691.15 billion in January, compared with S$692.4 billion in December 2019. But from a year ago, it rose 3 per cent.

Business loans fell 0.3 per cent from December to S$428.35 billion, amid a drop in loans to financial institutions, manufacturing, general commerce and business services firms.

Consumer loans remained largely steady at S$262.81 billion compared with December’s S$262.79 billion, but fell 1 per cent year on year.

Within consumer loans, housing and bridging loans was mostly flat from a month ago at S$200.83 billion in January – an improvement after 12 straight months of declines – compared to S$200.74 billion in December. On a year-on-year basis, however, it was down 1.7 per cent. Housing and bridging loans makes up about three quarters of consumer spending.

Source: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/singapore-bank-lending-ticks-down-in-january-as-business-loans-decline