Mortgage Approvals Fall further after Feb...>

UK DATA: Mortgage Approvals Fall further after Feb           

--BOE: UK Mar House Purchase Approvals 62,914 vs 63,910 Feb

--BOE: UK Mar Net Consumer Credit stg0.254bn vs stg1.647bn Feb 

--BOE: UK Mar Net Mortgage Lending st3.968gbn vs stg3.718bn Feb

--BOE: UK Mar M4 Ex-intermediate OFCS 0.0% m/m; +1.2% 3m Annualised         

--BOE: UK Mar Effective Interest Rate On New Secured Loans Up To 2.04%    

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Net consumer credit fell sharply from its previous February figure 

of stg1.647 bn to stg0.254 bn. MNI forecasts did not anticipate such a 

dramatic fall and had pencilled in net consumer credit to be at stg1.6 

bn for March. The figure is the lowest since November 2012 and reflects 

a contraction on both sides with higher repayments and a decrease 

in demand. New mortgage approvals fell to 62,914 in March from 63,910 in 

February but was still above the December low of 61,428. This was 

significantly lower than analysts expected with MNI forecasts suggesting 

a figure closure to 63,000 and is also lower than the previous six month 

average of 64,544. Annual growth in secured lending was unchanged at 

3.3% in March and February and net lending was in line with the previous 

six-month average at stg3.7bn.