The economy is the real King of all the political areas we watch closely. Therefore the rate of credit card use will be a major area where economists ponder the future. LGIU have briefed this morning that the Times newspaper reports that Credit card borrowing is speeding up. This is clearly an area of concern for some heavy weight newspapers?
Bank of England data shows credit card borrowing increased by 9.3% in the year to February, the fastest rate of increase for 11 years. It was also up from 8.6% in the year to January. Households put around £600m on their plastic in February, with users owing a total of £67.3bn.
It meant the overall flow of consumer credit hit £1.44bn in the month, above analyst expectations of £1.3bn. However, the Bank’s report also showed consumers’ appetite for debt may have lessened since November, when the annual growth rate in unsecured lending peaked at 10.9%. In February the figure stood at 10.5%. Growth in personal loans and overdrafts also slowed in February, rising by £900m compared to £1.1bn in January.
The question is how will the Chancellor deal with personal debt moving forward?!
