Singapore bank lending recovers in August

Lending rose by 0.4% which reverses a 0.9% decline in July.

Singapore bank lending inched back into positive territory after loans through the domestic banking unit inched up by 0.4% MoM to $489.72b (S$670b) in August, according to preliminary central bank data.

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The pick-up reverses from the 0.9% decline in July, as corporate lending rose back into the black after inching up 0.6% in August to $296.03b (S$405b).

On the other hand, consumer lending in August remained flat at $193.7b (S$265b).

"With the rising SIBOR rates and a bias towards tightening by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), we expect M3 and loans to grow moderately at 5% from 7.3% in 2017,” RHB said in a previous statement. 

Corporate lending is expected to lead loan growth and boost full-year figures to 8.5% in 2018 from 6.1% in 2017, added RHB.