"Personal UK debt, including mortgage lending, last year passed the 1
trillion mark, and our private debts now exceed gross domestic product,
the annual total value of the country's economic activity. Britain is
the only country in Europe with more credit cards than people: about 67
million credit cards, not including store cards.

 Citizens Advice Bureaux say the number of people seeking help with
credit problems has risen by almost half since 1998. More than 700,000
people sought help last year. As well as the potential harm to
individuals, economists are starting to warn that unchecked borrowing
poses a threat to the British economy as a whole.

 Despite Chancellor Gordon Brown's boasts about paying off much of the
national debt, economists at ING, an investment firm, say the level of
borrowing by companies and individuals as well as the public sector
means the UK owes almost 200 per cent of GDP.

 That makes Britain more indebted than Argentina, ING says, warning that
the debt burden could be a brake on future economic growth."

Full article at: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=301392005