Savings and loan deposits slowed in August.

The Federal Home Loan Bank Board said new deposits exceeded withdrawals by $1.5 billion, half the increase reported in July. The month-to-month drop was caused by slower growth in both large and small deposits. But deposits for the year, before interest is credited to the accounts, reached $6.4 billion through August, about three times higher than the deposit growth in the first eight months of 1985. The FHLBB also reported that mortgage lending in August remained at a high level with $25.4 billion in loans closed, 43.8% higher than a year earlier.