Caution | Common News Update

The boss of Nationwide has warned banks and building societies will have to "balance carefully" the way they lend to squeezed households as a possible economic slowdown looms.Chief executive Joe Garner said that while consumers were becoming more worried about the UK outlook - which has turned gloomier as Brexit approaches - most did not see the fall-out from the EU referendum affecting their access to borrowing.But he said it was important for lenders to weigh the supply of loans carefully against affordability to support demand from consumers "in a responsible way" through a slowdown.Mr Garner made the comments as Nationwide, Britain's biggest building society, reported a 20% fall in pre-tax profits to £322m for the quarter to the end of June, partly due to one-off gains made in the same

Consumer borrowing growth slowed and mortgage approvals slipped further last month according to new figures from high street banks, adding to signs of a wider slowdown.The British Bankers' Association (BBA) pointed to the run-up to the election as a factor as it said consumer credit grew by 5.1% in May, down from 6.4% the previous month.It was the weakest increase since October 2015 and was partly driven by a slowdown in credit card borrowing reflecting worsening retail sales.Erik Leenders, BBA managing director for retail banking, said: "This month's figures show that in the run-up to the general election, credit growth in personal loans, cards and overdrafts has slowed, which was reflected in lower spending."Weak consumer spending has already helped UK economic growth drop to just 0.2% ...

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Nationwide urges lending caution amid 'slowdown'

Consumer caution sees lending growth slow