Singapore bank loans up 5.48% in May

Lending to businesses rose 5.78%.

Singapore bank lending jumped by 5.48% YoY from $464.32b (S$633.22b) to $489.77b (S$667.89b) in May, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) revealed. On a month-on-basis, loan growth fell flat at 0.11%.

According to preliminary data, business loans grew 5.78% YoY to $295.55b (S$403.03b). They marginally grew by 0.14% compared to April.

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Lending was led by financial institutions (+19.78%) at $108.15m, private individuals with business purposes (+13.54%) at $10.32m, and business services (+10.91%) at $9.64m. On the other hand, loans for the transport, storage, & communication sector dipped 0.8% to $22.29m and other sectors fell 2.53% to $29.87m.

Meanwhile, consumer loans jumped 5.01% to $264.86m, as housing and bridging loans jumped 4.84% to $203.11m. Lending for cars, credit cards, and other consumer items jumped 7.83%, 4.04%, and 6.34% to $8.57m, $10.82m, and $40m respectively.