The Federal Reserve has announced that total personal debt has risen to $2.6 trillion – an increase of $15.3 billion from the previous month’s results.
This also brings the annual debt increase to 7.2 per cent – and marks the fastest expansion since November 2007.
A previous expert poll from Briefing.com had predicted a rise of just $6 billion for March 2008, CNNMoney reports.
The upwards trend will mean that banks can derive extra revenue from consumers’ interest repayments.
However, Gail Cunningham, spokesperson for the National Foundation for Credit Counselling expressed scepticism that the new data reflects an upswing in consumer confidence following the credit crunch.
“It could be that the consumer has tapped out his existing line of credit, so he may be turning to loan companies and taking out what he thinks is a short-term loan,” she says.