Lenders must stop stoking demand for loans: or there’ll be another firestorm
by Larry Elliott from on (#2XV66)
The Bank of England has issued a notably strong warning about consumer debt. There is a real risk of a second bust less than a decade after the previous one
Britain is on a consumer credit binge. Over the past year, growth per head of population has increased by 1% while the amount consumers have racked up - on their credit cards, on car finance and in unsecured personal loans - has increased by 10%.
This is a matter of concern for the Bank of England, and rightly so. As Alex Brazier, the Bank's director in charge of financial stability, put it last week, we have seen this movie before - and it doesn't have a happy ending.
Continue reading...