BOE's Carney has 200b reasons to fret about consumer debt

London

BANK of England (BOE) governor Mark Carney has 200 billion reasons to keep an eye on consumer borrowing and he's about to find out just how concerned he should be.

With household credit rising five times faster than earnings, alarm bells are ringing and regulators have fast-tracked part of their annual stress tests to get an insight into the resilience of banks to a sharp jump in defaults. Mr Carney and his Financial Policy Committee (FPC) will have that crucial information when they gather for their quarterly meetings this week.