Borrowing survey - Rate hikes to put many under strain

IT may be of undoubted comfort to the lending institutions that the value of peoples’ homes and deposit accounts exceed borrowings by €440 billion, but for anybody put to the pin of their collar through borrowing it affords little or no succour.

Although the reassuring news for the institutions is contained in a study published yesterday by IIB Bank and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), the study also advised that some people are already stretched and rising interest rates will put them under more pressure.

In fact, the study found that 80,000 borrowers will feel some strain from increasing interest rates and 50,000 will experience “considerable” difficulties.