By Melissa Pang

IN WHAT is seen as a first sign of economic stabilisation, fewer Singapore firms tapped on government-backed loans in May.

While April saw a record high of more than 1,800 approved loans, the number of loans declined by 25 per cent to 1,397 in May, amounting to $832.8 million.

Describing this as a 'first sign of stabilisation', Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Manpower Lee Yi Shyan, said at the launch of a precision engineering (PE) graduate diploma programme on Wednesday morning: 'According to local bankers, this could be due to the growing confidence of commercial lenders and borrowers which has led to a gradual pick-up in lending activity in Singapore.

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