Lending to UK consumers rose at the fastest pace in four and a half years in September and mortgage approvals hit a four-month high, according to official data.
The figures published by the Bank of England on Monday showed that consumer credit rose by £1.2bn last month, the strongest rise since February 2008 driven by a £893m increase in overdrafts and loans.
Mortgages also saw a boost with lenders granting 50,024 last month, compared with 47,921 in August, beating economists surveyed by Bloomberg who forecast 48,700. Mortgage lending grew by £491m, beating analyst forecasts of a £450m.
Today’s data is inline with similar data from the British Bankers' Association last week which showed a small rise in mortgage approvals in September, although they were still 6pc down on the year.
The figures will boost the Bank’s hopes that the economic recovery is now sustainable, alongside the better-than-expected third quarter growth figures last week which showed that the UK’s economy grew by 1pc.
The nine-person Monetary Policy Committee will meet next week to decide whether or not the latest Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) – which gives banks cheap loans with the purpose that these are then passed on to the consumer – has been effective and as well as discuss the need for further monetary easing.
The central bankers have cautioned that it would take several months before the effect of the scheme, which started in August, became visible.
Alan Clarke at Scotiabank, agreed it was still too soon to tell whether FLS was working, but noted that the headwinds facing the consumer had “abated to some extent”.
“Maybe there's some sentiment side of things which is helping, but the physical results will take some time to have an effect,” he said.
"I think we're now heading in the right direction. I don't think we're going to see serious quarter by quarter growth, but a steady positive expansion is possible from now."
Since the start of the financial crisis the Bank of England has pumped £375bn into its asset purchasing programme in a bid to stimulate markets and kick start growth in the economy.
Mr Clarke said that the lending figures were “another nail in the coffin for QE and rate cuts”. However, Ross Walker, economist at RBS, said that while the overall lending figures were better than had been expected, the underlying trends were roughly the same.
“Overall in the lending data, you still have a fairly anaemic picture. Again, there are signs of improvement, but it's still really early days. And in terms of actual lending numbers you're not really seeing any signs of real growth,” he said.
“Households still aren't really borrowing, and the corporate sector is far from borrowing, it's repaying debt.
“At the margin they'll look at what's most important, but in the last few weeks it seems as if they've struck a more cautious note as the underlying economic trends do seem to have been more positive."
telegraph.co.uk
The figures published by the Bank of England on Monday showed that consumer credit rose by £1.2bn last month, the strongest rise since February 2008 driven by a £893m increase in overdrafts and loans.
Mortgages also saw a boost with lenders granting 50,024 last month, compared with 47,921 in August, beating economists surveyed by Bloomberg who forecast 48,700. Mortgage lending grew by £491m, beating analyst forecasts of a £450m.
Today’s data is inline with similar data from the British Bankers' Association last week which showed a small rise in mortgage approvals in September, although they were still 6pc down on the year.
The figures will boost the Bank’s hopes that the economic recovery is now sustainable, alongside the better-than-expected third quarter growth figures last week which showed that the UK’s economy grew by 1pc.
The nine-person Monetary Policy Committee will meet next week to decide whether or not the latest Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) – which gives banks cheap loans with the purpose that these are then passed on to the consumer – has been effective and as well as discuss the need for further monetary easing.
The central bankers have cautioned that it would take several months before the effect of the scheme, which started in August, became visible.
Alan Clarke at Scotiabank, agreed it was still too soon to tell whether FLS was working, but noted that the headwinds facing the consumer had “abated to some extent”.
“Maybe there's some sentiment side of things which is helping, but the physical results will take some time to have an effect,” he said.
"I think we're now heading in the right direction. I don't think we're going to see serious quarter by quarter growth, but a steady positive expansion is possible from now."
Since the start of the financial crisis the Bank of England has pumped £375bn into its asset purchasing programme in a bid to stimulate markets and kick start growth in the economy.
Mr Clarke said that the lending figures were “another nail in the coffin for QE and rate cuts”. However, Ross Walker, economist at RBS, said that while the overall lending figures were better than had been expected, the underlying trends were roughly the same.
“Overall in the lending data, you still have a fairly anaemic picture. Again, there are signs of improvement, but it's still really early days. And in terms of actual lending numbers you're not really seeing any signs of real growth,” he said.
“Households still aren't really borrowing, and the corporate sector is far from borrowing, it's repaying debt.
“At the margin they'll look at what's most important, but in the last few weeks it seems as if they've struck a more cautious note as the underlying economic trends do seem to have been more positive."
telegraph.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment