Bank lending inched down in March from February amid the coronavirus outbreak, as a drop in consumer loans offset a rise in business lending, preliminary data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore showed yesterday.

Loans through the domestic banking unit, which captures lending in all currencies but reflects mainly Singapore-dollar lending, dipped 0.1 per cent in March from February.

Total lending stood at $692.4 billion in March, compared with $692.85 billion in February. It also rose 2.4 per cent over the same month last year.

Last month, loans to business segments were mixed. Loans to sectors such as manufacturing, construction and transport, storage and communications rose, while loans to the agriculture and general commerce sectors and financial institutions fell.

Total business lending in March stood at $434.17 billion, 0.8 per cent more than the month before, but 5.5 per cent higher from a year ago.

Consumer loans, however, shrank by 1.4 per cent to $258.23 billion in March from $261.93 billion in February. They fell 2.43 per cent from March last year.

Housing loans, which make up three-quarters of consumer loans, declined in March.

They dipped by 0.2 per cent to $200.29 billion, from $200.63 billion in February.

Loans across other segments such as car, credit card and share financing fell as well in the same period.

CIMB Private Banking economist Song Seng Wun said the dip in lending is expected, given that the economy is under enormous strain.

He said: "The jobless rate (is) trending up on local containment measures and weaker external demand.

"Banks' loan growth is expected to slow down markedly in coming months."