a man wearing a protective mask walks past the headquarters of the bank of japan amid the coronavirus disease covid19 outbreak in tokyo japan may 22 2020reuterskim kyunghoonfile photofile photo tokyo aug 8 reuters  japanese bank lending rose 18 in july from a year earlier accelerating from the previous month as some companies borrowed more to meet rising raw material costs amid a surge in global commodity inflation outstanding loans held by the countrys four main categories of banks including shinkin or credit unions hit a record 588232 trillion yen 436 trillion bank of japan boj data showed on monday the increase which followed a revised 12 gain in june reflected rising fund demand for property investment as well as mergers and acquisitions a boj official told a briefing companies were also boosting lending to meet rising raw material costs and a reopening of the economy as curbs to combat the covid19 pandemic are lifted the official said total lending by major and regional banks rose 21 in july from a year earlier accelerating from a 15 gain in june to mark the fastest yearonyear increase since may 2021 the data showed the data is among factors closely watched by the boj in deciding whether to end a pandemicrelief loan scheme aimed at easing a credit crunch among small firms as scheduled when it expires in september