Credit borrowing stagnates in Jan
Loan and credit card borrowing was down by a sizeable margin in the month of January, according to new reports.
Information released by the BBA shows that the accumulative total borrowed by consumers during the first month of 2008 was just shy of ½ a Billion pounds, equating to quite a substantial reduction in credit requests, when faired against the previous months borrowing activities.
In the case of credit card borrowing, and in quite a rare turn of events, the amount repaid back to providers during the month of January, was actually more than the amount spent. Lenders have also reported that demand for home loans has also been in decline since the start of the year, with the combined total of new requests down by close to 15%.
Commenting on the shift, one expert stated that consumers are almost certainly becoming more aware of their personal finances, in respect of the credit squeeze. Borrowing across all sectors of the credit markets is low, and it would also appear that prime as well as sub prime providers are also taking a slight hit. It is most likely that we are in the midst of a transitional period, whereby consumers are exerting temporary caution with regards to their borrowing needs, fuelled by spate of negative economical speculation.
