After expanding at its slowest pace in almost two decades in 2012 as a whole, Canadian household credit growth moderated further in the first month of 2013 with personal debt outstanding up 4.5% over the 12 months ended January.
Experts at RBC Economics also say this compares to 4.7% year-over-year growth in December and a 6.0% increase recorded in January of last year
Business financing growth, on the other hand, accelerated for the seventh consecutive month, up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis in January following the 7.4% rise seen in the previous month.
According to a news release put out this morning by Canada's biggest bank, "the Canadian economy is in the process of shifting away from households as the key driver of growth and toward businesses and international trade. The household and business credit data and the further deviation between their respective trends are consistent with this economic re-balancing gaining traction.
The bank concludes, "the moderation in housing market activity is reflected in households scaling back their borrowing while the increase in lending to businesses is supportive of continued capital investment.
"We anticipate that these trends will continue through 2013."
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