Credit crunch

If you’re one of the many Americans hoping to take out a loan this year, don’t get your hopes up. A new survey of the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association reveals that, while they expect interest in new credit to rise, they expect criteria for approval will increase and approvals themselves will decrease. The good news is that the survey found a growing number of bank risk-management teams foreseeing credit portfolios stabilizing, rather than worsening. Below are some projections compiled in the survey, which was sponsored by FICO.

• Nearly 40 % said interest rates for consumer credit will increase somewhat. Nearly 50 % said it will remain the same.

• About 35 % expect approval criteria for credit and loans to increase somewhat. Nearly 40 % said it will stay the same.

• Nearly 40 % said credit-card balances will increase somewhat. About 33 % said it will decrease somewhat.

• About 30 % expect the amount of credit extended to consumers to decrease somewhat, while 38 % expect the amount of credit requested to increase somewhat.

• About 45 % said the number of mortgage delinquencies will increase somewhat.

Source: BankRate.com