国际英语新闻：Japanese bank lending drops for 12th straight month in Nov.

TOKYO, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Bank lending in Japan fell 2.1 percent in November from a year earlier, marking the 12th successive month of decline, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) said in a report on Wednesday.

According to official data released by Japan's central bank, the average daily balance of bank lending stood at 391.92 trillion yen (4.69 trillion U.S. dollars) in the recording period and the 2. 7 percent drop in November also follows a 2.0 percent decline in October.

In addition, the BOJ said that excluding factors such as loan write-offs, the loan balance fell 1.8 percent from the same month a year earlier, following a 1.7 percent dip in October.

In a separate report released Wednesday by the BOJ, Japan's benchmark money supply measure grew 2.6 percent in November from a year earlier, following a 2.7 percent rise a month earlier, but slightly down on economists' expectations for a 2.7 percent increase, which would have mirrored last month's rise.

Japan's money stock, as measured by the key M2 aggregate, totaled 779.1 trillion yen (9.33 trillion U.S. dollars) in the recording period, the central bank reported. The balance of M2 includes currency in circulation and deposits, but excludes those held at Japan Post Bank.

The nation's M3 money stock aggregate increased 2.0 percent on year in November following a revised 2.1 percent rise logged a month earlier, the central bank reported.

M3 money stock in November also missed median forecasts for a 2. 1 percent increase, economists noted.

The BOJ continues to focus on both M2 and M3 data to gauge economic activity at the moment as the bank has no long-term historical data on the M3 aggregate yet.

Money supply or money stock, is the total amount of money available in an economy at a particular point in time and are usually defined as currency in circulation and demand deposits ( depositors' easily-accessed assets on the books of financial institutions).

Leading economists are quick to note that there is a direct relation between long-term price inflation and money-supply growth, at least for rapid increases in the amount of money in the economy.