Singapore bank loans up 1.1% in May

Total bank lending in Singapore rose 1.1 percent to 597.5 billion Singapore dollars (478.42 billion U.S. Dollars) in May from the previous month, boosted by more loans to businesses, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced Monday.
The figure is a 13 percent jump from the same period last year when a total of loans worth 528.8 billion Singapore dollars (423. 41 billion U.S. Dollars) were disbursed.
With lendings in most segments in business going up in May, loans to businesses rose 1.5 percent from April to 368.5 billion Singapore dollars (295.06 billion U.S. Dollars) ,while housing and bridging loans, the biggest component of consumer loans, rose 0.7 percent month-on-month to 170.7 billion Singapore dollars (136.68 U.S. Dollars).