Debt management: Bank says consumer lending slow

19/02/2010

The Bank of England has reported a 12 month fall in the amount of credit which is available to the public.

Many people could find it harder to obtain loans and credit through the banks as the availability of money remains tight.

The Trends in Lending report from the Bank found that mortgage lending and lending to businesses in the UK had both weakened in December.

However, consumer credit showed a slightly positive growth in the last month of 2009, though the overall 12-month figure remained negative.

January showed a return to the fall in consumer credit flows.

The Bank reported that this could be due to the low demand for credit, which could suggest that many people are making use of debt help and organising the debt they have already accumulated rather than applying for more.

Repaying credit card debt could be made a little easier as figures show that the average credit card interest fell slightly from a high of more than a decade of 18.3 per cent in November to 17.8 per cent in December.

Posted by Jim Mead

Tags; Current UK Economy,

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