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Lending drops in Australia despite record low interest rates

Xinhua, July 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Lending finance declined in May in Australia despite Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) implementing record low interest rates during the same month.

Personal lending commitments in May fell a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent to 8.96 billion Australian dollars (6.66 billion U.S. dollars), according to official data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The result compares to 9.08 billion Australian dollars (6.75 billion U.S. dollars) in April.

The ABS data showed total business finance commitments -- including investor housing finance -- dropped a seasonally adjusted 1.7 percent in May.

Housing finance for owner occupation dropped 5.3 percent to 18. 1 billion Australian dollars (13.46 U.S. dollars) in May, down from 19.12 billion Australian dollars (14.22 billion U.S. dollars) in the previous month.

The RBA cut the official cash rate to a record low of 2 percent in May. Endi