Japanese bank lending rose 6.3% in March from a year earlier, data showed on Monday, as restaurants and hotels sought more loans to weather the hit from the COVID-19 pandemic. Deposits held by banks were also up 9.9% in March as households continued to save rather than spend on uncertainty over the pandemic’s fallout, the Bank of Japan data showed. Outstanding loans held by the country’s four main categories of banks, including “shinkin” or credit unions, hit a fresh record at 579.995 trillion yen ($5.29 trillion), according to the data. In February, total loans increased 6.2%. The introduction of a new scheme that ... (full story)