Foreign bank loans to Australia are holding steady at a time when lending to advanced economies is on the wane, data compiled by the Bank for International Settlements shows.The BIS said that cross-border claims on advanced economies contracted in the fourth quarter of 2012, by US$472 billion (or two per cent). This compares with an increase of $77 billion (0.4 per cent) in the September 2012 quarter. Borrowers in Europe and the United States were particularly affected by the retreat in international inter-bank activity in the fourth quarter. Inter-bank claims on banks in the euro area fell by the most, by US$284 billion (five per cent). This is the third consecutive quarterly decline.In Australia, the BIS estimated claims on banks in Australia were US$545 billion at the end of last year, down $7 billion over a quarter but unchanged from the previous year.The BIS noted that cross-border claims on the Asia-Pacific region increased the most (by $39 billion or 2.9 per cent), after a decline in the previous quarter (of $33 billion or 2.4 per cent) Borrowers in China accounted for around half of the increase in cross-border credit to the region, the majority of these were banks ($13 billion or 3.7 per cent). The remainder of the increase reflected lending to India, Chinese Taipei and Indonesia, the BIS said.