Japan bank loans down by 0.3% in September

Japanese banks lent  0.3 percent less in September compared from a year earlier, reports Reuters.

This marks the 22nd straight month of annual declines, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday.
   
Outstanding loans held by the country's four main categories of banks, including "shinkin" or credit unions, stood at
455.3568 trillion yen or $5.887 trillion.
    
Excluding factors such as loan write-offs, the rounded figure for the change in the loan balance was minus 0.0 percent
compared with the same month a year earlier, the central bank said.