LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) – British mortgage approvals rose by more than expected last month and consumer credit grew at a faster pace than in January, Bank of England data showed on Monday, ahead of a potential hit from higher borrowing costs caused by the Iran war.
The BoE said 62,584 mortgages were approved in February, up from 60,246 in January. Economists polled by Reuters had pointed to 61,250 approvals during the month.
Net consumer borrowing rose by 1.935 billion pounds ($2.56 billion) in February, more than the 1.6 billion-pound forecast in the Reuters poll of economists.
The increase was above January’s 1.828 billion pound rise, taking the annual rate of consumer credit growth to 8.5%, its fastest since March 2024.
($1 = 0.7557 pounds)
(Reporting by Suban Abdulla)
