Home loans are still driving debt level

BORROWING for house purchase is still driving the debt level in the economy the latest Central Bank credit statistics for March disclose.

Between February and March the increase in the amount of credit in the private sector was virtually unchanged.

By the end of March 2003 the level of increase was 16% slightly ahead of the 15.9% recorded in February and just below the annual increase of 16.1% achieved at the end of January. Chief economist of IIB Bank, Austin Hughes, said that while the credit figures must still be considered high, given the downturn in the economy he believed “they are consistent with a soft landing” for the economy in the period ahead.