SINGAPORE – Bank lending in Singapore rose 0.7 per cent in October from September, reversing from a slight month-on-month contraction in September, preliminary data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore showed on Friday (Nov 29).
Loans through the domestic banking unit – which captures lending in all currencies, but reflects mainly Singapore-dollar lending – stood at $689.42 billion in October, compared with $684.48 billion a month ago.
From a year ago, total lending rose 2.6 per cent.
Business loans in October rose 1,1 per cent to $426.76 billion from the previous month, on the back of more lending to financial institutions. Loans to firms in manufacturing; bulding and construction; transport, storage and communication; and business services all shrank.
Year on year, lending to businesses was up 5.2 per cent from $405.78 billion in October 2018.
Consumer loans stayed roughly the same – $262.65 billion in October versus $262.48 billion in September. Year on year, they were 1.2 per cent lower than the $265.96 billion taken out in October 2018.
Housing and bridging loans extended their slow slide to $201.09 billion, 0.1 per cent less than the previous month and 1.4 per cent lower than a year ago.