South African consumers are under pressure. The Consumer
Credit Index compiled by Trans Union, one of the global leaders in credit and
information management fell in the second quarter of this year to 43.6 percent
down from 50.0 a year ago.
The index is designed to fluctuate from a minimum of 0.0 to
a maximum of 100.0 with 50.0 being the breakeven point.
Levels above 50.0 are associated with higher rates of loan
repayment, lower credit card utilisation, improving household cashflow, lower
interest rates and credit deleveraging.
The current figure of 43.6 indicates moderate deterioration.
Any figure below 40 is strong deterioration.
The CCI averaged 62.8 in 2010, dropped to 55.7 in 2011 and averaged
50.4 last year. It stood at 42.3 in 2007-208.
According to Trans Union the latest figures show that credit
health is deteriorating and could see more households missing on loan
repayments.
Consumer spending patterns are also likely to be affected
with people cutting back on non-essential purchases.
“Under such a scenario, big-ticket durables, entertainment,
and non-essential retail sectors are likely to be impacted earliest and most
negatively,” the company says.
No comments:
Post a Comment