Japan August bank loans up 1.8 pct yr/yr - BOJ

TOKYO, Sept 8 - The balance of outstanding loans held by Japanese banks rose 1.8 percent in August from the same month a year earlier, the Bank of Japan said on Tuesday, slowing further from a record gain in January as credit conditions eased.

Loans held by the country's four main categories of banks, including "shinkin" or credit unions, stood at 465.602 trillion yen ($5,006 billion).

Excluding factors such as loan write-offs, the loan balance rose 2.5 percent from the same month a year earlier.

Outstanding Japanese commercial paper held by banks declined 27.8 percent in August from a year earlier after a 25.2 percent drop in the year to July.

Following is a table of Japanese bank lending and outstanding commercial paper held by banks (preliminary, with year-on-year percentage changes; some previous figures may be revised):

AUG JULY JUNE Banks including shinkin: +1.8 +2.1 +2.4 Banks excluding shinkin: +1.9 +2.2 +2.5 Outstanding CP held by banks: -27.8 -25.2 -21.8 To view the full tables, go to http://www.boj.or.jp/en/type/stat/boj_stat/kashi/kasi0908.pdf