PHNOM PENH, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's banking industry recorded a slight increase in lending in the first two months of this year after a sharp rise last year, according to a consolidated data provided by the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) on Saturday.

The data showed that the kingdom's 33 commercial banks had lent a total of 5.99 billion U.S. dollars to customers by the end of February this year, up 1.7 percent from 5.89 billion U.S. dollars at the end of December last year, the report said.

It added that 32 percent of the loans went to wholesale and retail trade, 10 percent to agriculture, 9 percent to manufacturing, 8 percent to construction, 6 percent to hotels and restaurants, 6 percent to mortgages and the remaining percentage went to financial institutions, real estate and personal borrowing.

The credit growth has eased in the first two months of this year after it sharply rose in the whole year of 2012.

Last year, the banks lent 5.89 billion U.S. dollars to customers, up 34 percent year-on-year, said the NBC's report.

The Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned in January that the surge in lending by Cambodia's banks could put the country's financial stability at risk.

"Rapid credit growth and excessive risk taking by banks in 2012 could threaten financial stability," the Fund said in its consultation report.

According to the World Bank's April 2013 Economic Outlook released this week, the declining trend of credit growth this year was thanks to slower growth in agriculture, manufacturing, retail, and construction financing.

"Financial deepening continues, and credit growth, though eased, continues to raise concerns as a financial risk," the bank said. " Close monitoring is warranted."

By the end of February this year, the NBC said that the banks received 6.25 billion U.S. dollars, up 1 percent from 6.19 billion U.S. dollars at the end of last year.

Cambodia has the population of about 14.5 million. Its banking sector has been serving about 1.6 million borrowers and 1.9 million depositors, according to the NBC.