Japan bank lending on 19th month of decline

Outstanding loans of Japanese banks fell 0.6 % in June from a year earlier.

This marks the 19th consecutive month of decline, according to the the Bank of Japan.

Overall bank lending stood at a total of 392.0 trillion yen or 4. 82 trillion U.S. dollars in the recording period, less than the 0. 8 percent decline logged in May and the 1.0 fall in April, the central bank's figure showed.

The BOJ's figure revealed that combined loans held by the country's four main categories of banks, including "shinkin" or credit unions, stood at a total of 454.20 trillion yen or 5.59 trillion U.S. dollars, slightly lower than May's figure of 455.2 trillion yen.

Japan's central bank also said that with the exception of loan write-offs, the overall loan balance dropped 0.3 percent from the same month a year earlier, following a 0.5 percent slide logged a month earlier.

Read the full story at Xinhuanet.