Poor credit ratings on the rise in SA

Bloomberg

File photo

The number of South African consumers with impaired records remains on the rise, the National Credit Regulator (NCR) said on Friday.

This was a finding of its Consumer Credit Market and Credit Bureau Monitor reports.

The NCR said that of 19.49 million credit-active consumers, only 10.44 million were in good standing at the moment.

The reports found that the number of consumers with impaired records increased by 119,000 to 9.05 million in the first quarter of the year.

The total value of credit granted to consumers decreased by 11.69 percent in the same period.

There was also an 11.69 percent drop in new credit granted to consumers, and a 5.69 percent decrease in applications for credit from December 2011 to March 2012.

NCR CEO Nomsa Motshegare said the decrease was evident for all forms of consumer credit and was partly due to seasonal factors.

The reports are based on data submitted by registered credit providers and credit bureaux and cover credit market information from March 2011 to March 2012. -Sapa