March was terrible for household finances, but April was a disaster, data from credit bureau Centrix showed. Managing director Keith McLaughlin said the number of credit accounts where the account holder was flagged as being in financial hardship doubled over April, increasing from 10,000 to 20,000. That did not include the huge number of people who had taken loan repayment "holidays". By April 29, the banks had allowed just over 103,000 households to take home loan repayment "holidays", or reduce their monthly repayments. Demand for loans dropped through the floor in March, reflecting deep caution about spending in households, McLaughlin said.

Source: Stuff May 01, 2020 01:01 UTC