Britons are labouring under a record mountain of debt according to fresh figures showing that every UK household has an average loan of £39,000 ($111,000) - 50 per cent more than the average annual income.
Consumers saddled themselves with an extra £1.5 billion ($4 billion) on credit card and bankloans and took out mortgage loans of £7.25bn ($20.6 billion) in February, the Bank of England said.
The total rise of £8.76 billion ($24.9 billion) was a slight slowdown from the £8.99 billion ($25.6 billion) recorded in January, which analysts said was consistent with other evidence of a slowdown in consumer spending and borrowing.
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the stockbrokers Gerrard, said the figures strengthened the case for a further cut in interest rates.
But he said some on the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee would be worried about encouraging households to take on even more debt, leaving them more exposed to a sudden slump in house price.
Mr Rubinsohn's figures show that including other financial commitments, the total pile of outstanding debt has risen to £918.6 billion ($2619 billion) - a record in both numerical terms and as a proportion of households' incomes.
As a nation, UK consumers' outstanding debt is 30 per cent greater than their total disposable income.
