SINGAPORE - Singapore bank lending barely moved in January from the previous month as little movement in business and consumer loans.

Loans and advances by domestic banks totalled S$600.2 billion in January 2016 from S$599.8 billion in December, according to data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Monday (Feb 29).

Bank lending declined 0.7 per cent month-on-month in December.

Compared to a year ago, January bank lending was down 1.2 per cent from S$607.5 billion. This was slightly smaller than the year-on-year decline of 1.3 per cent in December.

Business loans in January stood at S$357 billion from December, largely unchanged from a month ago. In December, it fell 1.3 per cent.

Consumer lending was also largely unchanged at S$243 billion, after rising 0.2 per cent in December.

Housing and bridging loans in January rose to S$185.3 billion from S$184.7 billion in December.

Loans and advances in non-Singapore Asian currencies (ACU) were S$545.9 billion in January, down from S$549.6 billion in December.