30 January 2001, 13:15  UK December consumer credit--OVERVIEW

--UK Dec consumer credit 1.083 bln stlg
--UK Dec net personal borrowing 4.400 bln stlg
--UK Dec lending secured on dwellings 3.317 bln stlg
--UK Dec house loan approvals value 10.748 bln stlg
--UK Dec house loan approvals number 101,000
--UK Dec net credit card borrowing 269 mln stlg
--UK Dec consumer credit up 12.5% on yr, slowest since Jun 1995

By BridgeNews
London--Jan. 30--Consumer credit borrowing over the Christmas period was weaker than markets expected, according to figures published on Tuesday by the Bank of England. Net consumer credit lending rose by 1.083 billion sterling, weaker than the 1.2 billion sterling that had been expected. In percentage terms consumer credit rose a yearly 12.5%, the slowest rate since June 1995.
The data suggested that housing market activity remains fairly steady, with the number of home loan approvals broadly unchanged from November.
* * * Net credit card lending was just 269 million sterling, the lowest monthly figure since April 2000.
Total home loan approvals, a good indicator of future housing market activity, were 101,000 in December compared with the downwardly revised figure of 102,000 in November. However, the value of loans approved dropped slightly to 10.7 billion sterling from 11.0 billion sterling in November.
Total personal borrowing rose a net 4.4 billion sterling in December, down from the 5.2 billion sterling rise seen in November. Net lending secured on dwellings rose by 3.3 billion sterling, down from the 4.0 billion sterling rise recorded in November.
The Bank said that it knew of no special factors that had affected the latest figures.
The data ties in with weaker than expected official figures for retail sales in December, suggesting that there was no debt-fuelled shopping spree in the run-up to Christmas.

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