SINGAPORE, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's total loans and advances including bills financing of Domestic Banking Units (DBU) declined by 0.06 percent month on month in September, comparing with a 0.36 percent increase for August, according to data released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Wednesday.
On a year-on-year basis, the total loans and advances of DBUs increased by 4.5 percent year on year to a predicted 669.51 billion Singapore dollars in September, marking the 24th straight month of positive growth.
In September, Singaporean DBU's loans to businesses grew 5.34 percent year on year and declined 0.25 percent month on month to 403.74 billion dollars. In a breakdown, the loans to building and construction reached 130.48 billion dollars, rising 8.61 percent year on year.
DBU's consumer loans in September reached 265.78 billion Singapore dollars, up 3.26 percent year on year and 0.22 percent month on month.
Selena Ling, head of Treasury Research & Strategy of OCBC Bank, said the 4.5 percent year-on-year growth in domestic bank lending was the lowest since February 2018, and the growth in business loans eased from 7 percent year on year in August to 5.3 percent year on year in September, which is also the slowest year-on-year pace since February 2018.
