UK consumers continued to borrow over Christmas despite fears over the economy and the prospect of a war with Iraq, according to a report from the Bank of England (BoE) today UK net new consumer credit totalled STG1.92 in December on a seasonally-adjusted basis, the Bank of England said. This is the largest gain in consumer credit since September 2002.
The net increase in consumer credit in December was larger than expected, with the median of economists' forecasts tipping net new consumer credit to have totalled STG1.8bn in December. In November, net new consumer credit was an unrevised STG1.40bn. In December, credit card credit rose STG696m, after it increased by STG661bn in November. Net lending secured on dwellings totalled STG7.45bn in December, up from STG7.34bn the previous month. Total net lending, which includes both lending secured on dwellings and consumer credit, bounced back in December amounting to STG9.39bn, from STG8.76bn the previous month.
The BoE also reported that the value of approvals of new mortgage loans fell to STG21.01bn from STG21.93bn in November, with approvals falling to 116,000 in December from 119,000 in November. //www.fxcentre.com