Low national saving, a persistent current account deficit and the rapid expansion of balance sheets are potential reasons why the UK economy needs to rebalance. Global factors are likely to have been an important driver of these developments, but domestic factors have played an important role in...

The severe recession of the past year might be expected to have put the financial position of British households under considerable strain. Unemployment has risen significantly, credit conditions have tightened and many homeowners have seen their housing equity eroded. But many borrowers have...

Household decisions on whether to save or spend play a key role in the outlook for aggregate demand. A range of factors could help to explain the fall in the household saving ratio over the period 1995 to 2007. Declines in long-term real interest rates, looser credit conditions, rising asset...

Top-down stress testing is one way of assessing the resilience of the financial system to the risks it might face now or in the future. The Risk Assessment Model of Systemic Institutions (RAMSI) developed at the Bank of England is an example of a top-down stress-testing model and is part of the...

The UK economy has begun to recover over the past year but households’ financial positions remain under strain. Elevated unemployment, weak earnings growth and restricted credit availability still pose a problem for some households. But the low level of Bank Rate has continued to bear down on...