Rates may go lower but household debt-servicing costs yet to peak

Tough times are still to come. (Image: Unsplash)

Fri, 22 Dec 2023

ASB Bank expects the official cash rate to head lower in the second half of 2024 but says increases in overall household debt-servicing costs have yet to peak.“We anticipate that the average debt servicing cost facing households will peak at around 6.2% in mid-2024, 340 bps [basis points] above 2021 lows,” said senior economist Mark Smith. This is equivalent to a bit more than $100 per week of costs for each household, or an extra $12 billion per annum on nationwide household debt servicing.According to ASB, about 90% of t...

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