Moody’s sees slow fall in personal loan arrears

The Government and bank lenders were given something of a wake-up call yesterday as a leading international credit rating agency threw cold water on the prospects for a speedy return to normal personal debt levels here.

Moody’s Investors Service said in a a major report covering four eurozone countries that high levels of consumer confidence will unlikely mean that arrears on consumer loans will fall sharply in Ireland any time soon.

It said that there is little link between consumer confidence surveys because “high unemployment and stagnant salaries” matter more in the ability of households to meet their debts.