Irish people in debt to tune of more than €210bn

29/04/2005 - 11:42:20
Irish people are continuing to borrow heavily and are now in debt to the tune of more than €210bn, according to figures released by the Central Bank today.

The bank said total lending increased by €4.9bn (2.4%) during the month of March, partly due to a rebound in demand for residential mortgages following a two-month slump.

However, in a continuation of recent trends, non-mortgage credit accounted for most of the money borrowed during the month.

Despite the increase in borrowing, the Central Bank said the annual growth rate in the 12 months to March was 25.4%, down from 26.9% in the year to the end of February.