-Adds Detail To Version Transmitted At 0830 GMT
-BOE Data: UK Aug house purchase approvals 47,665 vs 47,556 Jul
-BOE: Aug M4 ex-IOFCs +0.5% m/m; +7.8% 1q/3m annualised.; +4.1% 4q/12m
London (MNI) – A raft of Bank of England credit and money data for
August showed some signs of recovery, with broad money growth on the
central bank’s favoured measure, M4 ex-IOFCs, growing at its fastest
pace since Q3 2007 and mortgage approvals also nudging higher.
M4 ex-IOFCs, which excludes the economically irrelevant
intra-financial sector transactions, rose by 0.5% on the month and was
up 7.8% on a three monthly annualised basis, the fastest pace of growth
seen since Q3 2007. Mortgage approvals edged up in August, to 47,665
from 47,556 in July and consumers again cut their unsecured credit.
On a four quarter/12 monthly basis M4 ex-IOFCs was up 4.1% in
August, compared to up 3.9% in July, the fastest growth since Q1 2009.
Net consumer credit fell by Stg134 million in August having dropped
by Stg234 million in July, the first time there were consecutive
declines in net unsecured credit since December 2011 through February
2012.
One downside to the data was that some bank lending rates rose in
August, despite joint Treasury and BOE initiatives to try and drive them
down.
Although the Funding for Lending Scheme, which aims to ease credit
conditions, became active in August some effective interest rates, that
is rates paid by customers, picked up.
The average rates on outstanding secured loans in August held
steady at 3.37% but those on household unsecured loans rose to 7.74%
from 7.7% in July. The latter figure was the highest since November
2008.
On new business the average effective rate on secured loans rose to
3.84% from 3.82%, hitting its highest level since June 2011.
-London newsroom: 4420 7862 7491 e-mail: drobinson@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$$BE$,MABDS$]
