Consumer credits have been an important tool for reactivating the economy in the midst of a pandemicBut big challenges are faced as consumption has plummeted and there is uncertainty about the economic outlook. The purchase of goods and services has plummeted and in the second quarter of 2020 there was a 20% drop in new investment.
Consumer credit “has been a big help for consumption in these months. The welfare society is based on stability in employment and this type of financing “, says Ignacio Pla, secretary general of ASNEF, a financial sector employer that represents all entities regulated by the Bank of Spain.
In the consumer credit prospects observatory, organized by cofidis and El Mundo, experts agree that job stability will be essential to reactivate consumption. According to Anna Golsa, digital director of Business and Marketing at Cofidis, the use of consumer credits “has been diverse, it has focused more on home renovations, for example, less for travel or for car buying “.
Commerce
Although in the months in which the shops were closed, the consumption of what was not essential fell, “that channel has been activated to be able to finance goods and services in a safe, comfortable and agile way,” says Pla. For MarÃa Cruz Vaca, Director of Economic Affairs at Anged, the National Association of Large Distribution Companies, “2020 has been a succession of three crises: health, economic and also lifestyle, because our priorities have changed and that it has affected consumption. ”
The points of sale have been affected by the pandemic, and “consumption is important to relaunch the economy. In November, 34% of the turnover of non-essential trade has been closed, and this has an impact on employment and the rent, “he says.
Anna Golsa, this period has been complicated at the time of closing, but there have been differences between countries, because “the aid has not been the same and, therefore, the impact has not been the same.” “But above all, recovering employment is essential to return to that confidence in 2021,” he says.
According to Javier Niederleytner, professor of the master’s degree in banking and finance at the IEB, “people now have a more vision of risk. They have more financial education and people think about it more when it comes to getting into a credit dito because we are in a crisis of confidence “.
job
Employment, all the experts agree, will be a determining factor in the recovery of consumption and the economy. Now, remember Vaca, there is less employment and a high percentage of people in ERTE. That is why “disposable income has been significantly reduced. We consume more at home, and the electronics and entertainment segments are the only ones that can end the year the same as 2019. This is where credit is being directed to consumption “.
“Family consumption is moving towards basic necessities that they need to finance.” According to Vaca, who provides data from Aecoc, in the automobile sector the drop is 34%, household credit has fallen 27%. The hotel industry fell 4%, textiles, another 40%, while commercial invoicing would fall between 10-15%.
The influx to establishments registered a fall in November by 40%. Savings are growing at levels of years ago. “Commerce in Spain has not grown in turnover in any month. Spain, moreover, depends more on tourism and trade than the rest of European countries”, Vaca recalls.
According to Niederleytner, loans have fallen, but with the vaccine, people will regain employment and confidence will return “. “As soon as there is stability in employment and income, people will consume again,” Pla agrees.
All point out that financial entities “will help the consumer to access these goods and services.” “Household consumption decisions will always depend on the level of income, economic expectations and the capacity and availability of financing,” says Vaca.
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