§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what study he has made of the impact of the increasing 69W use of credit accounts and credit cards by retailers upon domestic credit expansion.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesNo detailed information is available. Although retailers have been making increasing use of credit card and similar schemes, much of the credit extended in this form will be in place of other forms of credit previously extended by retailers or financial institutions. To the extent that there is a net addition to total credit outstanding and this is financed directly or indirectly by the banks, there will have been an increase in DCE. But since bank lending is constrained by the SSD scheme, I would expect the net impact on DCE of this lending to be small.