§ 11. Mr. McCrindleasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the current amount of outstanding borrowing which is attributable to the use of credit cards.
§ Mr. LawsonI regret that, for reasons of commercial confidentiality, figures for lending by the main credit card companies are not published separately, but are included in the published figures for bank lending to persons. Many of the credit cards offered by finance houses and retailers are indirectly financed by the banks; lending through this route is also included in the figures for bank lending to " other financial " and to retail distribution. Figures for lending through those credit cards not financed by the banks are subsumed in the published figures for lending by HP and other consumer credit grantors.