The average daily balance of money lent by banks fell 3.3 percent in November from a year earlier, extending the downtrend to 83 months in a row, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday.
The unbroken streak indicates that corporate demand for funds is still weak and that companies are striving to reduce debt.
November's drop was bigger than the revised 3.1 percent fall reported for October, the central bank said in the preliminary report.