Singapore's February bank lending up 2.1%

Singapore's total bank lending in February increased by 2.1 percent from that of the previous month, according to statistics released on Thursday the Monetary Authority of Singapore.The bank lending totaled 510 billion Singapore dollars (408 billion U.S. dollars) in February, up 2.1 percent from the 499.5 billion Singapore dollars in January.The bank lending increased by 20 percent from the same month a year earlier.The total loans to businesses rose by 3.1 percent month on month to 299.9 billion Singapore dollars.Total loans to consumers increased by 0.6 percent to 210.1 billion Singapore dollars, led mainly by housing loans. (1 Singapore dollar = 0.8 U.S. dollar)