This is the fastest monthly growth seen in the metric since July 2020 and comes as business loans gain further momentum, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced on July 30. The metric captures lending in all currencies, but mainly reflects Singapore dollar lending. ItWhile the expansion was partly due to the low base in 2020, Ling observes that economic sentiments has also been more buoyant.
Singapore’s economy was seemingly in better shape during the Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) restrictions between mid-May to mid-June, compared to during the circuit breaker in 2Q2020, notes Selena Ling, head of treasury research and strategy at OCBC Bank.
Her comments follow the 1.5% increase in the total loans from the domestic banking unit, to $703.92 billion in June.
