Japanese banks' lending rose by 2.1% year over year to ¥525.076 trillion in April following a 2.0% increase in March, preliminary data from the Bank of Japan showed.

Excluding shinkin banks, or credit unions, lending was up an annual 2.0% rise in April to ¥456.623 trillion after a 1.9% increase in March.

Lending from shinkin banks saw an annual rise of 2.3% to ¥68.452 in April, following a rise of 2.5% in the previous month.

As of May 9, US$1 was equivalent to ¥109.74.