Today's business and finance round up 30th March 2022
Consumer borrowing jumps amid cost-of-living squeeze
30th March 2022
Bite-sized business news from the UK and beyond
Good morning We’ve had M&S vs Aldi and now there’s a new supermarket war. Waitrose has sent a legal letter to Asda after its rival unveiled a similarly-named discount product range. On Monday Asda announced its ‘Just Essentials’ range of low-cost products to help shoppers with the cost of living but Waitrose said the branding is too like its own ‘Essential Waitrose’ range launched in 2009.
Today's stories
From debit to credit - Consumer borrowing jumps amid cost-of-living squeeze
Staying put – Post Brexit finance exodus not as bad as expected
ECONOMYConsumer borrowing jumps amid cost-of-living squeeze
What’s going on?
Why is this important?
During the pandemic UK households collectively saved over £100bn as lockdown curbed discretionary spending. As Covid restrictions have eased consumers pandemic savings have dwindled, and spending on credit has rebounded.UK households borrowed £1.9bn more than they saved in February, up from £0.6bn a month earlier – the biggest jump for almost five years.The increase was driven by credit card borrowing which rose by £1.5bn to £59.5bn – the highest since records began in 1993. The rest of the rise came from increased spend on personal loans and store cards.Economists believe the trend is a sign of the growing strain on household budgets. Inflation hit a 30-year high of 6.2% in February and is expected to reach almost 9% before the end of the year. Last week the government’s spending watchdog warned that UK households are facing the biggest fall in living standards since at least the 1950s.
Zooming out
Other stories to keep you in the loop
Average mortgage hits £235k as cost of living crunch threatens home ownership plans for many
Barclays sinks as mystery seller offloads £900 million stake
UK seizes first superyacht in British waters
FedEx founder steps aside as chief after 50 years
Deliveroo extends its range adding new partner WH Smith’s products
Uber Eats signs global delivery deal with BP
FINANCEPost Brexit finance exodus not as bad as expected
Stat of the day
Spotify paid $7bn to music industry rights holders last year with 600 artists earned more than $10,000. Of those, 130 were paid more than $5m
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