Loan growth eases in August as consumer lending falters

Total lending grew 0.5% last month.

Domestic banking units (DBUs) saw a slower increase in bank lending during the month of August. Preliminary data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) showed that total loans inched up 0.5% to $613 billion last month, compared to a 0.6% growth in July.

This compares with a growth of 0.6% in July. The softer month-on-month figure was driven by a lack of growth in consumer lending, which stayed flat in August.

Business loans rose 0.8% to $373 billion, driven by higher loans to financial institutions as well as to transport, storage, and communication companies.

Consumer lending growth was flat. The slight increase in housing loans was offset by a decrease in car loans.