The average daily balance of Japanese bank lending expanded 0.8 percent in November from a year earlier, marking a fourth straight monthly rise after adjustment for special factors, the Bank of Japan said Thursday.
The November balance stood at 385.22 trillion yen. The ongoing growth in the bank lending balance is seen as further evidence that financial institutions' reluctance to lend has begun to ease amid the economic recovery.
The lending balance, excluding loans by "shinkin" savings-and-loan banks, was adjusted for special factors -- loan securitization, exchange rate fluctuations and the allocation of loan-loss reserves.
The bank lending balance rose in August for the first time since the central bank began compiling the adjusted data in October 1998.