UK manufacturing growth slows in Dec while consumer credit rises

London

LENDING to Britons surged towards the end of 2015 at the fastest rate in almost a decade but manufacturing growth slipped, according to figures on Monday that underscored Britain's reliance on consumers to drive its economy.

Net lending to consumers rose 8.3 per cent in the year to November, the Bank of England said, in what was the fastest credit growth since February 2006. To date the bank has dismissed the idea that Britain's economic recovery is disproportionately reliant on debt.

Stronger-than-expected lending growth and mortgage approvals helped lift sterling from a nine-month low against the US dollar on Monday, a weakness that partly reflects concerns that the economy might be too weak to justify an interest rate rise this…