Lending by Japanese banks fell 4.6 percent in July from a year before, declining for the 55th month in a row, the Bank of Japan said Thursday.

The average daily lending balance for July came to 422.77 trillion yen, the BOJ said in a preliminary report.

The drop was attributed to weak fund demand from businesses for new capital investment and the reluctance of banks to lend because of the need to book large loan-loss charges as the economy remains weak, analysts said.