Singapore November total bank lending up 2.1%

Singapore's total bank lending in November increased 2.1 percent from October, accelerated from the growth rate of 1.4 percent in October, according to statistics released Tuesday by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The loans and advances by domestic banking units in Singapore amounted to 565.8 billion Singapore dollars (447.3 billion U.S. dollars) in November, up from 554.3 billion Singapore dollars (438. 2 billion U.S. dollars) in October. On year-on-year terms, bank lending in November rose by 17.4 percent, up from the annual growth rate of 15.6 percent in the previous month. Loans to businesses increased by 2.8 percent on month to 341.4 billion Singapore dollars (269.9 billion U.S. dollars), while consumer loans rose marginally by 0.97 percent to 224.4 billion Singapore dollars (177.4 billion U.S. dollars). Housing loans increased by 0.57 percent on month to 165.9 billion Singapore dollars in November. Meanwhile, loans and advances in Asian currency units rose to 468.8 billion Singapore dollars (370.6 billion U.S. dollars) in November from 448.5 billion Singapore dollars (354.5 billion U.S. dollars) in October.