Chart of the Day: Singapore banks' loan to deposit ratio jumped to 100%

System loans also rose.

According to Barclays, the MAS May monetary statistics showed steady underlying loan growth momentum in May, with system loans rising by 1.2% m/m and 7.7% ytd on a constant currency basis.

Taking into account a 2% appreciation of the US$ against the S$ in May, system loans rose by 2.2% m/m and 3.2% ytd. 

Here's more from Barclays:

The MAS’s May monetary statistics showed that system loan to deposit ratio rose to 100%, another record high since 1999, and we see deposit competition and margin pressure to persist in the near-term.

Despite tighter system liquidity, we believe that Singapore banks are resilient to potential capital outflows compared to EM Asia banking peers. We maintain our preference for UOB (UOB SP, OW, S$24) which is defensive to any liquidity tightness with the lowest S$/US$ LDR at 90% (vs 92-94% for peers).