Bank lending in Singapore continued to rise at a healthy pace last month, climbing 17.6 per cent from a year ago to $539 billion, data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore showed on Friday.

There was growth in lending across all business sectors. Loans to businesses in July grew 20.8 per cent overall from last year to $321 billion,

Consumer loans rose in all areas except one - car loans continued to decline, by 7.4 per cent in July from a year ago as the loan curbs introduced in February continued to bite.

Cooling measures implemented in the property market, however, failed to dent a rise in housing loans, which advanced 14 per cent over the past year to $161.2 billion.