- Tuesday, 19 May 2009Clearing debt has become a key issue for the vast majority of Britons as the current recession deepens, it has been revealed.
New figures from Apacs, the UK payments association, have shown gross credit card lending to individuals during the first quarter of 2009 amounted to £30.3 billion, while such debt repayments reached £29.6 billion.
Equifax has suggested the statistics demonstrate that a growing number of Britons are seeking to tackle their debt problems and avoid bankruptcy as the credit crunch continues to threaten jobs and businesses across the country.
Neil Munroe, external affairs director at Equifax, said the figures are "very indicative and symptomatic of what we are seeing in the high street", with more people choosing to clear debt rather than spend more on their credit cards.
"Maybe there is an expectation that their job may not be as secure as it was and therefore people don't want to be caught out with no job and [high] borrowing still," he explained.
According to the latest research from Credit Action, total UK personal debt at the end of March 2009 stood at £1,459 billion, with the rate of personal debt slowing to 2.2 per cent over the past 12 months.
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