Households borrowing more and saving less, says BoE Bank of England data shows that households are borrowing more and saving less, with the figures suggesting that people are dipping into extra savings amassed during the pandemic as inflation drives up costs. The Bank's Money and Credit report shows that consumer credit - which includes borrowing on credit cards, personal loans and overdrafts - increased by 1.4% year-on-year in December, marking an increase on the 0.8% climb recorded in November. It was also found that households deposited £3.2bn into banks, building societies and NS&I accounts in December – far lower than the pre-pandemic average, with typical deposits of £5.5bn a month recoded in the year to February 2020. Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the data points to people starting to “draw down their 'excess savings,” suggesting this “reflects households attempting to support their current level of expenditure while their real disposable incomes are being battered by high inflation, rather than a positive shift in consumers' sentiment.”