Japan's bank lending growth decelerated in July, with total loans and discounts at major, regional and shinkin banks rising 5.4% year over year to 679.2 trillion yen, according to preliminary data released by the Bank of Japan on Monday.
The pace of growth eased from the 5.7% expansion in June, and was lower than the consensus forecast of 5.7%, tracked by Investing.com.
Loans at major and regional banks alone grew at a softer pace of 5.9% versus 6.2% in June. Major banks' loan growth slowed to 8% from 8.6%, while that of regional banks was flat at 4.2%.
Foreign banks' yen-denominated lending edged up 28.3% to 728.1 trillion yen.
On the deposits side, deposits and certificates of deposit at city, regional and shinkin banks rose 1.6% year over year to 1.074 trillion yen in July.