The average daily balance of financial institutions' lending rose 0.02 percent to 446.49 trillion yen in January, moving into positive territory for the first time since January 2001, when comparable data began being compiled, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday.
The result suggests that financial institutions' reluctance to lend has been easing in accordance with the economic upswing.
The figure covered city banks, trust banks, long-term credit banks, regional banks, second-tier regional banks and "shinkin" savings and loan banks.