Nursery World - Financial headache

Britons owe more money than ever, and the childcare sector is going to feel the crunch when it comes, as Simon Vevers explains The Bank of England kept interest rates at 4 per cent last month, but, according to a Reuters survey, many leading economists believe that a further hike in rates of at least half a per cent is inevitable in the immediate future. The reason? To try to curb Britain's burgeoning domestic debt. There has been a blizzard of statistics in the past month warning that by the summer, the total personal UK debt will be around one trillion - that is, one thousand billion pounds.

The Bank of England kept interest rates at 4 per cent last month, but, according to a Reuters survey, many leading economists believe that a further hike in rates of at least half a per cent is inevitable in the immediate future. The reason? To try to curb Britain's burgeoning domestic debt. There has been a blizzard of statistics in the past month warning that by the summer, the total personal UK debt will be around one trillion - that is, one thousand billion pounds.

By the end of February it had reached 956 billion, a growth of 14.1 per cent on the previous year. According to figures compiled by Richard Talbot of Credit Action, personal debt has grown twice as fast as income since 1997 when Labour came to power. Analysts Mintel reckon that Britain is now the only country in Europe with more credit cards, at 63.9 million, than people.

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