In The News...
China Car Sales Soar
Car sales in China rose 48 per cent in June from a year ago, boosted by government incentives and the continuing resilience of the country's economy.
Sales hit 872,900 vehicles last month, the biggest increase since February 2006, said the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Chinese car sales are continuing to benefit from cuts in sales tax and subsidies to trade in older vehicles. It comes as the wider China economy continues to grow at more than six per cent.
Good Week
Homeowners The Nationwide Building Society in the United Kingdom has introduced a mortgage allowing borrowers to take loans worth 125 per cent of the value of the home they are buying.
It will only be available to existing customers in negative equity who want to move house. Negative equity means that the value of someone's home is less than the amount they owe on their mortgage.
Nationwide said it was a "niche offer" and that not everyone in negative equity would qualify. The Financial Services Authority is considering limiting loans to 100 per cent of a home's value.
Bad Week
Defaulters The level of people falling behind with consumer loans in the United States hit a new high in the first three months of 2009, the American Bankers' Association said. Rising unemployment was behind the missed payments, it said. Delinquencies – payments that were 30 days overdue – rose to 3.23 per cent from 3.22 per cent, the highest since rates began being tracked in the 1970s.
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