Japan's bank lending growth remained steady in August, with total loans and discounts at major, regional, and shinkin banks rising 5.4% year over year to 680.3 trillion yen, according to preliminary data released by the Bank of Japan on Tuesday.
The pace of growth was unchanged from July, missing the consensus forecast of 5.5%, tracked by Investing.com.
Loans at major and regional banks alone rose 5.8% to 600.3 trillion yen. Major banks led the increase, with lending climbing 7.9% to 280.7 trillion yen, while regional banks posted a 4.1% growth to 319.6 trillion yen. Foreign banks' yen-denominated lending edged up 25.6% to 7.10 trillion yen.
On the deposits side, deposits and certificates of deposit at city, regional and shinkin banks rose 1.6% year over year to 1,072 trillion yen in August.