British consumers increased their borrowing by the smallest amount
since mid-2015 in the three months to November, suggesting households
are slowly reining in spending, Bank of England figures showed on
Thursday.
Britain’s economy saw lackluster growth for most of 2017 - especially compared to its faster-growing neighbours - and Thursday’s BoE data suggest this pattern continued toward the end of the year.
The central bank said unsecured consumer lending in the three months to November grew at an annualised rate of 8.5 percent, down from 9.3 percent in the three months to October and its weakest since June 2015.
The BoE has played down any suggestion of a debt bubble, though it has acknowledged pockets of risk and required banks to set aside more money against the risk of bad loans.
The central bank raised interest rates for the first time in more than a decade in November, reversing a cut made in August 2016, and indicated that further increases were likely in the coming years to keep inflation under control.
Britain’s economy saw lackluster growth for most of 2017 - especially compared to its faster-growing neighbours - and Thursday’s BoE data suggest this pattern continued toward the end of the year.
The central bank said unsecured consumer lending in the three months to November grew at an annualised rate of 8.5 percent, down from 9.3 percent in the three months to October and its weakest since June 2015.
The BoE has played down any suggestion of a debt bubble, though it has acknowledged pockets of risk and required banks to set aside more money against the risk of bad loans.
The central bank raised interest rates for the first time in more than a decade in November, reversing a cut made in August 2016, and indicated that further increases were likely in the coming years to keep inflation under control.
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