We’ve been spending far too much, says expert

British consumers have been spending far too much money in recent years, one expert has asserted.

Professor Peter Spencer, chief economist for the Ernst & Young Item Club, suggested recently that while the UK’s economic growth is set to slow, there will be positive results, including a cut in overspending and excessive borrowing.

He told BBC Radio Five’s Wake Up To Money programme that the economic downturn in the UK is “really not that bad”, despite the increased financial pressures being put on households with serious debt management problems.

“[After the economic slowdown] there will certainly be some centres like the housing market and the high street where it will be very noticeable, but there will be other centres where jobs and everything else will be picking up,” said Professor Spencer.

“It is a good thing because we were on the wrong road, we were borrowing and spending far too much as individuals and as government and as a nation,” he added.

The European Central Bank reported recently that there had been a “sharp tightening” of lending criteria across the continent in recent months.