In 2018, 73 per cent of high-income earners ($150,000 or more) said they expected to pay down debt. That has fallen to 37 per cent.
“Given that our survey also showed that over 60 per cent of Australians are extremely concerned about the increasing cost of living the cost of essential services and increasing energy prices it seems that more households are not paying down debt because they do not have the capacity to do so,” EY chief economist Jo Masters said.
Key data on lending to households and businesses will be released on Tuesday. Lending to households for personal finance excluding refinancing has fallen more than 15 per cent in the 12 months to December while lending to households for the purchase of homes has fallen more than 19 …
Read the full article at: https://www.afr.com/news/economy/stretched-australians-unable-to-reduce-debt-20190408-p51bva