DBS to slash Singapore dollar deposits rates

Lending activity has started to ease off as banks become more careful.

DBS Group, Southeast Asia's largest lender, said it would cut interest rates for Singapore dollar deposit accounts from Oct. 14, affecting a range of deposit accounts.

For instance, DBS has cut the interest rate for the first S$10,000 deposited in its "DBS Autosave (Personal)" account to 0.05 percent from 0.10 percent previously.

"Increasing risk aversion have led people to keep money in the bank rather than putting it to work, like investing in stock markets or buying properties," said Song Seng Wun, an economist at CIMB Research in a report in Reuters.

"For the banks, on the flip side, lending activity has also started to ease off as banks become more careful of who to lend to."