Financial woes to hit the high street

Fear for the economy as consumer confidence falls

THE election has left Brits more worried about their finances than any time since late 2013.

A report from pollsters YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) warned nervousness would dent high street spending and the wider economy.

Doug McWilliams, deputy chairman of the CEBR, predicted “economic growth will fall sharply over the coming months and the country will only be saved from recession by strong international trade”.

It came as separate research showed the growth in consumer credit had slowed sharply even before the election. Credit card lending still jumped 5.5 per cent year on year in May, but that was down from 6.4 per cent the previous month. The growth in personal loans and overdraft borrowing also eased from 6.3 per cent to 4.8 per cent, according to data from the British Bankers Association. Meanwhile, the amount people are saving slowed to the lowest rate since December 2011. The Bank of England are expected to announce action today to further slow credit card borrowing. Measures could include forcing lenders to reduce the amount of credit available by £150billion.

Household debt has topped £1.5trillion, mostly on mortgages, but with £200billion of consumer credit.

The YouGov and CEBR survey of 6000 people found the wider measure of consumer confidence across a whole host of areas had fallen to the second-lowest level for years. The only worse time was after last June’s Brexit vote.

People were then asked specifically about the outlook for their own finances and the reading was the lowest since December 2013.

However, job security has proved “relatively resilient”.