January 2017 UK mortgage approvals and consumer credit data report 1 March 2017
Prior 67,898. Revised to 68,266
- Total mortgage lending 3.379bn vs 3.700bn exp. Prior 3.798bn. Revised to 3.693bn
- BOE consumer credit 1.416bn vs 1.400bn exp. Prior 1.039bn. Revised to 0.984bn
Of which credit cards 339m vs 228m prior. Revised to 219m
Total non-fin lending 3.717bn vs -2.101bn prior. Revised to -2.094bn
Of which SME lending -151m vs -301m prior
Another report to confound Brexit worriers. The housing and borrowing numbers show a steady appetite for borrowing, and mortgage lending remains buoyant too. I'd like to see the non-fin lending maintain a decent pace, and SME borrowing to pick up, as long as it doesn't start overheating, which will signal problems.
The wires are reporting from the angle that consumer credit growth is down for the second month but that's hardly a cause for concern right now. We may just be seeing a further reduction in borrowing coming off the holiday season. January is often a long pay month for many, and credit can be used more frequently to plug that gap.
The lending numbers will be key as Brexit progresses as they will indicate business risk appetite and sentiment on how the negotiations are going.
GBPUSD had a little dip to 1.2362 but is back doing nothing at 1.2379.
UK consumer credit
