SINGAPORE - Bank lending in Singapore shrank slightly in September from a month ago on lower business loans, preliminary data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore showed on Wednesday (Oct 31).

Loans through the domestic banking unit - which captures lending in all currencies, but reflects mainly Singapore-dollar lending - stood at $669.5 billion, down from $669.9 billion a month ago. This represents a 0.1 per cent contraction from August, and reverses from a 0.4 per cent gain recorded that month.

The weakness came from business lending, which inched down 0.2 per cent to $404 billion in September from August, swinging from a 0.6 per cent rise the previous month. This came as construction loans - the single-largest business lending segment - fell in September for the first time on a month-on-month basis since January this year.

Total consumer loans were lifted slightly by 0.2 per cent to $266 billion in September, compared to flat growth in August.

From a year ago, total lending rose 4.5 per cent, weaker than the 5.6 per cent gain posted in August.