“The deceleration of real household income, due to the decline in income from agricultural activity and soaring prices, would have weighed on household consumption, reducing its annual growth rate to +2.2% in the fourth quarter, instead of +7.9% during the same period of the previous year,” said the the High Commission for Planning (HCP) in a document.
Household demand would have remained the main engine of economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2022, although slowing down compared to the third quarter, added the same source.
Despite a slight rise in interest rates, household use of debt to finance consumption is estimated to have increased, particularly during October and November 2022, with the flow of consumer credit more than doubling compared with the same period in 2021
