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Business as usual this Christmas

Christmas spending will be on a par with previous years this holiday season, despite the rise in interest rates, experts predict.

However, according to Credit Action that means that many Britons will continue to over-stretch themselves financially.

Chris Tapp, associate director of Credit Action, downplayed the effect of November's interest rate rise, explaining that he has not seen "a lot of evidence" pointing towards a massive slowdown in retail spending.

He said: "I think the interest rates rise might have put some people off spending, particularly on mortgages and that sort of thing, but I don't think there's any real reason to suspect that there's going to be any kind of slowdown this Christmas.

"It's been escalating year on year and I think that this Christmas is going to be as busy as ever."

However, he cautioned that 'typical Christmas spending' means over-spending in many cases, with December the top month for retail activity – and Credit Action experiences an upsurge in activity every January.

"That points to the fact that unfortunately a large number of people do spend more money than they should at Christmas and really feel the bite in the months afterwards," Mr Tapp said.

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13/12/2006 13:48:27

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