A great representation of Global debt levels. A picture on which the UK appears to be holding it's own.

UK Business lending Falls At Record Pace; UK Mortgage Lending Drops 32% to 10 Year Low; Bundesbank Fears Second Wave of Credit Crisis; Party's Over

Great article by Mish Shedlock.

U.K. Posts First January Budget Deficit Since at Least 1993

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By Scott Hamilton

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Britain posted its first budget deficit for January since records began in 1993 as the longest recession on record shriveled the nation’s tax take.

Government spending exceeded revenue by 4.3 billion pounds ($6.7 billion) last month, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. Economists forecast a 2.6 billion-pound surplus, according to the median of 16 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey.

Jobless claims rose last month to the highest since 1997 as damage from the recession extended into 2010. The slump in revenue in January, the annual peak for tax collection, adds to the prospect that the budget deficit will reach the post-World War II high of 12.6 percent of gross domestic product forecast by finance minister Alistair Darling.

“There’s just been a consistent procession of data which have been the highest borrowing figure for that month either on record or for many, many years,” Simon Hayes, chief U.K. economist at Barclays Capital and a former Bank of England official, said in a telephone interview before the announcement. “The degree of adjustment that the U.K. needs to go through over the next few years is certainly going to be difficult.”

Ugly

Are Banks Really Refusing to Lend?

Article in forbes

Great article in FT Alphaville today. It addresses the question at the core of DebtRevulsion. When the governments worldwide push banks into lending - will the consumer still want to borrow. Answers are beginning to emerge.

Consumer credit contracts.

 Consumer credit fell by a net £0.3 billion, below the previous six‑month average (Table A).  Credit card lending increased by a net £0.2 billion and other loans and advances fell by £0.5 billion. The annual growth rate of consumer credit continued to fall, to 0.7%.

August lending stats out today from the BoE.
Whilst most of the headlines reflect the contraction in mortgage lending there is more to be found in the details of Consumer Credit - which is now contracting. Graphs to follow.