International bank lending fell by almost $2 trillion, or 6 percent, during 2009 as the financial crisis continued to restrain credit through to the end of the year, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS)

It said lending by banks fell by $385 billion in the October-December quarter, compared with a $267 billion contraction in the previous quarter and the fifth consecutive quarterly decline.

Lending fell by $1.9 trillion in 2009 and has contracted by $3.8 billion since September 2008 -- or 11 percent -- according to BIS, the coordinating body for the world's central banks.

The statistics -- the only ones to chart cross-border lending around the world -- show it is taking time for lending to pick up. Banks have been cutting off funds to companies and to each other despite efforts by governments and central banks to unlock jammed credit markets.

Lending to both banks and the non-bank sector declined in the final quarter of last year.

International borrowing had been rising steadily in the three decades that BIS has kept tabs on it as the global economy raced ahead, but has tumbled from its March 2008 peak. - Reuters