Debt Burden Among South Africans Seen as `Time Bomb' for Country
- Treasury official sees reckless lending even as economy slows
- Consumers forced into high-interest loans as banks pull back
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Increasing debt in South African households and their excessive access to easy credit is “the biggest time bomb” facing the country, said Ismail Momoniat, a deputy director general at the National Treasury.
“I still see adverts for 150,000 rand ($11,000) personal loans -- isn’t that reckless?” Momoniat said in a presentation at a banking conference in Johannesburg on Thursday. “We do want credit in the economy, but it can’t be right, all these personal loans.”