US credit growth continues to accelerate, reaching the highest year-over-year pace since the Great Recession.
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In 2012 the growth was primarily driven by corporate debt (chart below) as banks remained cautious on real estate and consumer lending. While corporate loan growth remains strong – at around 11% per year – other sectors are now experiencing faster credit expansion.
In a complete contrast to the situation in the Eurozone, both real estate (particularly commercial) and consumer credit growth rates have improved materially this year. Consumer credit is no longer just driven by autos, with credit card debt picking up as well.
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The only major headwinds for this trend currently are some of the geopolitical risks (Iraq, Russia, etc.). Consumers, companies, and banks are still fairly jittery and it won’t take much to dampen the supply of and/or the demand for credit.
