Credit arrears at highest level since pre-covid

Electronic retail spending fell $166m in December. (Image: Getty)

Wed, 01 Feb 2023

More than 410,000 New Zealanders were behind in their payments in December, with arrears up across the board in the wake of higher interest rates and as the cost of living escalates.That's 10% up on the previous 12 months and, at 11.3% of the active credit population, is the highest level recorded since just prior to the covid pandemic, during February 2020, according to data from credit agency Centrix. Credit lines include buy now, pay later (BNPL), credit card debt, car and mortgage payments – the latter of which had 17,200 acc...

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