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FSA: Credit crunch to continue

Britons are to find it increasingly hard to take out a personal loan with many high street lenders, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has suggested.

Speaking to the BBC, FSA chief Hector Sants said that the effect of the credit crunch - would have deep and long-lasting effects.

The crunch began following the collapse of the US sub-prime mortgage sector last summer - and saw turbulence on the global financial markets leading to financial institutions becoming more reluctant to lend to each other.

Its effects have trickled down from the markets to consumers, with many high street lenders significantly tightening their lending criteria for mortgages and personal loans thanks to the money worries.

"I don't think markets are ever going to return to the way they were," Mr Sants said.

"The idea that at some point they will go back to normal, I think, is a misnomer.

Mr Sants also said that apparently deteriorating economic conditions, themselves a result of the crunch, could lead to loans problems increasing still further in the future.

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