Saturday May 21, 2005, The Guardian : For the first time in 11 years, consumers paid back more credit card debt last month than they took on. And as fears over the economy grow, the country also took on the smallest amount of mortgage borrowing for more than three years while inflows into building society savings accounts were the highest for four years. The increased saving is believed to be a response to higher interest rates and a sluggish housing market, which have made people wary about adding to the existing £1.1 trillion debt mountain.
“HSBC, which relies on predatory lending subsidiary Household International for US profits, will experience the same conditions in the United States” said watchdog organization HSBC Watch. “The US Office of the Comptroller is likely to enforce higher credit card payments which will lead to more foreclosures and bad debt for sub-prime borrowers targeted by HSBC” said the group.
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