Britain’s banks might be resilient – but what about their debt-ridden customers?

Now might be a good time for the BoE to have a quiet word with Britain’s lenders, writes James Moore

The Bank of England has sought to reassure after raising interest rates 11 times in a row (PA)

Phew! Our banking system isn’t at risk from the turmoil seen in America and Switzerland, according to the Bank of England, even if the markets are treating bank shares like a new Covid variant.

(Here’s the lesson from that: regulation isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The price of deregulating your banking system can be very high, as the US is now discovering.) It was a busy day on Threadneedle Street, with the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee putting up its minutes as the regular update on consumer borrowing was released.

Depositors and borrowers will be pleased about its reassurances in the wake of 11 consecutive interest rate rises and the toppling of wobbly banks overseas. However, the consumer credit update bears close attention.