(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 30 mar - In February, net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals in the UK increased to 4.8 billion pounds from 4.2 billion in January, above the previous six-month average of 4.5 billion, according to data released by the Bank of England.

The annual growth rate for net mortgage lending increased slightly to 3.4% in February, from 3.3% in January.

Net mortgage approvals for house purchases, which is an indicator of future borrowing, increased to 62,600 in February, from 60,200 in January.

Net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals slightly increased to 1.9 billion pounds from 1.8 billion in January, slightly above the previous 6-month average of 1.8 billion.

Within this, net borrowing through credit cards was 0.8 billion in February, down from 0.9 billion in January and through other forms of consumer credit such as car dealership finance and personal loans increased to 1.2 billion pounds in February, up from 0.9 billion in January.

The annual growth rate for all consumer credit increased to 8.5% in February from 8.3% in January. The annual growth rate for credit card borrowing decreased to 12.1% from 12.3%, and for other forms of consumer credit it increased to 6.9% from 6.6%.

In February, UK non-financial businesses borrowed, on net, 3.7 billion of loans from banks and building societies, including overdrafts, following 8.0 billion of net borrowing in January.

Within this measure, large non-financial businesses borrowed 3.2 billion, following net borrowing of 7.6 billion in January. Small and medium-sized non-financial businesses (SMEs) borrowed, on net, 0.4 billion in February, following net borrowing of 0.3 billion in January.

The annual growth rate of borrowing by large businesses increased to 10.4% in February, from 9.4% in January. The annual growth rate of borrowing by SMEs increased to 2.8% from 2.4% over the same period.

Private non-financial corporations (PNFCs) borrowed, on net, 2.6 billion of finance in February, following net borrowing of 5.1 billion in January. This was driven by 4.3 billion of net borrowing through loans from banks and building societies, 2.5 billion of net bond issuance and 0.3 billion of net commercial paper issuance. These increases were partially offset by 2.4 billion of net equity buybacks The net flow of sterling money (M4ex) increased to 10.8 billion in February, from a negative 7.3 billion in January.

February's deposits were driven by an increase of holdings of money by households, by 5.8 billion pounds after 4.3 billion in January, by non-intermediate other financial corporations (NIOFCs) by 4.4 billion after a negative 6.4 billion the earlier month, and PNFCs by 0.5 billion from a negative 5.2 billion in January.

The annual growth rate of M4ex increased to 3.9% in February, from 3.6% in January.

The flow of sterling net lending to private sector companies and households (M4Lex) decreased to a negative 3.2 billion in February, from a positive 10.3 billion in January. This was driven by net repayments by NIOFCs of 11.0 billion following net borrowing of 2.8 billion in January, offset by households and PNFCs borrowing 5.1 billion and 2.6 billion, compared with 4.9 billion and 2.7 billion in January, respectively.

The annual growth rate of M4Lex decreased to 5.7% in.

February, from 6.2% in January.

(RADIOCOR) 30-03-26 11:06:47 (0220) 5 NNNN