Recession? What recession?
UK consumers are this month expected to withdraw around £10.6 billion from their bank accounts as the last minute dash for Christmas present continues. Despite the fact the UK is still officially in recession, it is believed that the December 2008 figure will be exceeded by over £600 million with on average £237,100 withdrawn every minute!
The figures have been calculated using the time-honoured trend which has seen December withdrawals exceed the average month by 12.4% although many are astounded at the forecast £10.6 billion figure when you consider the state of the UK economy. Rather bizarrely, insurance company Aviva has also revealed that the average Briton spends on average three days, six hours and 35 minutes shopping for Christmas presents as opposed to just seven days looking for the best pension plan or annuity rates in their entire lifetime. The fact that we seem to put Christmas before our long-term financial stability is a major concern!
It is also interesting to see the forecast increase in withdrawals because of the fact that credit card spending is down and liquidity in the loans sector is still subdued. So it would appear that UK consumers are more than willing to spend their savings, although as we covered in one of our earlier articles today, 20% of UK parents have been raiding their children's savings accounts!
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