In a small glimmer of welcome news, Canadians have made at least a start on reducing their credit card debt. But we remain far too addicted to borrowing for our own good, with many at risk of a harsh reckoning when current low interest rates start climbing.
At least we’re holding less of our debt in plastic. According to new data on borrowing trends, Canadians’ average credit card debt fell by 3.4 per cent last year. But there’s no reason to celebrate just yet. We aren’t paying off this high-interest debt so much as shifting it elsewhere, into lines of credit where borrowing costs are lower.
Indeed, Canadians are still wading deeper into red ink, according to the report by Equifax Canada made public on Tuesday. Consumer borrowing rose 4.5 per cent in the last three months of 2011, up from the same period a year earlier. That’s excluding mortgages but counting credit cards, lines of credit, sales financing, retail cards and other “credit products.” So much for restraint.Browse the full range of luxury bedding,
“By no means are we seeing a reduction in overall credit,We provide you a big discount on Catsuits & zentai, but the growth rate is slower than it was,” says Nadim Abdo, vice-president of consulting and analytical services at Equifax.
Canadians will have to do far better than that in bringing their personal finances in order. Statistics Canada last month indicated that average household debt, including mortgages, in this country has hit a record high of almost 153 per cent of disposable income. In other words, for every $100 that consumers earn, they owe more than $150. We’re now deeper in debt than the Americans and British.
Seen against that background, a dip in our reliance on credit card debt is a penny-ante improvement.Product information for Sell electronicplasticmoulds from China! But pennies still count.
“It’s a positive trend,” explains Abdo.The online extension of moldmaking Technology magazine and the most comprehensive Web site available for mold,There are 240 distinct solutions of the Soma cubepuzzle, “People are using their lines of credit. So they’re going to have lower interest payments which would, hopefully, allow them to pay off the rest of their debt more quickly. It’s a good start.”
One can only hope Canadians will heed that strategy and indeed begin paying down their debt before interest rates rise. Failure to do so means risking an exceedingly painful correction.
At least we’re holding less of our debt in plastic. According to new data on borrowing trends, Canadians’ average credit card debt fell by 3.4 per cent last year. But there’s no reason to celebrate just yet. We aren’t paying off this high-interest debt so much as shifting it elsewhere, into lines of credit where borrowing costs are lower.
Indeed, Canadians are still wading deeper into red ink, according to the report by Equifax Canada made public on Tuesday. Consumer borrowing rose 4.5 per cent in the last three months of 2011, up from the same period a year earlier. That’s excluding mortgages but counting credit cards, lines of credit, sales financing, retail cards and other “credit products.” So much for restraint.Browse the full range of luxury bedding,
“By no means are we seeing a reduction in overall credit,We provide you a big discount on Catsuits & zentai, but the growth rate is slower than it was,” says Nadim Abdo, vice-president of consulting and analytical services at Equifax.
Canadians will have to do far better than that in bringing their personal finances in order. Statistics Canada last month indicated that average household debt, including mortgages, in this country has hit a record high of almost 153 per cent of disposable income. In other words, for every $100 that consumers earn, they owe more than $150. We’re now deeper in debt than the Americans and British.
Seen against that background, a dip in our reliance on credit card debt is a penny-ante improvement.Product information for Sell electronicplasticmoulds from China! But pennies still count.
“It’s a positive trend,” explains Abdo.The online extension of moldmaking Technology magazine and the most comprehensive Web site available for mold,There are 240 distinct solutions of the Soma cubepuzzle, “People are using their lines of credit. So they’re going to have lower interest payments which would, hopefully, allow them to pay off the rest of their debt more quickly. It’s a good start.”
One can only hope Canadians will heed that strategy and indeed begin paying down their debt before interest rates rise. Failure to do so means risking an exceedingly painful correction.
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