Bank loans in May up 1.1% from April on the back of strong business lending

Businesses continued to pile on the cash for their expansion plans in the wake of a brightening global economic outlook, helping to boost bank loans disbursed in May, data released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Monday showed. -- PHO
Businesses continued to pile on the cash for their expansion plans in the wake of a brightening global economic outlook, helping to boost bank loans disbursed in May, data released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Monday showed. -- PHOTO: ST FILE 

BUSINESSES continued to pile on the cash for their expansion plans in the wake of a brightening global economic outlook, helping to boost bank loans disbursed in May.

Data released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Monday showed that total bank loans in May rose to $597.5 billion, up 1.1 per cent from April's figure of $591.1 billion.

Compared with the same period last year where total loans of $528.8 billion were disbursed, bank lending in May rose by 13 per cent.

Business lending came in at $368.5 billion, up 1.5 per cent from the $363.1 billion loaned in April.

Lending to all business segments went up in May, except to those in the "others" segment, that include loans to non-traditional sectors like loans to membership organisations, as defined by the Department of Statistics in its Singapore Standard Industrial Classification.

Consumer loans went up by a smaller amount in May, as $229.1 billion worth of loans were disbursed, up by 0.5 per cent from April's $228 billion.

Housing and bridging loans, the biggest component of consumer loans, stood at $170.7 billion, up 0.7 per cent from April's $169.5 billion.

Car loans continued to fall, with $9.72 billion of such lending in May, down 1.9 per cent from April's $9.91 billion.

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