Consumers cut back their net borrowing in February from £1.8billion net to £1.4billion according to Bank of England data, due to the uncertain economy, experts say.
According to the Bank, the decline was driven by lower credit card borrowing, which fell from £800million to £500million. Other forms of consumer lending fell, such as personal loans and car finance, down £100million to £900million.
At the same time, it said that the annual growth rate for credit cards and other forms of consumer credit dropped from 11.9 percent to 7.3 percent.
Rosie Hooper, Quilter Cheviot chartered financial planner, said that the fall in consumer borrowing “indicates a more cautious approach to unsecured borrowing amidst economic uncertainties”.
Karim Haji, global and UK head of financial services at KPMG, said that although inflation is falling and starting to have an impact on prices, the cost-of-living remains high and people are still struggling with their bills.
“Default rates remain high and it is critical…
