Posted by meb at June 10th, 2008

While household debt in Turkey has increased dramatically in the last couple of years, the ratio of debt to total disposable income is still in the low figures, the latest data show.

According to the Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO), debt shot up to 29.5 percent of total income last year, from 7.5 percent in 2003. In most Western countries, however, households are facing worse challenges than those in Turkey, with the number of bankruptcies in Western countries skyrocketing. In Canada for example, many aren’t keeping their heads above water, with total household debt at a record $1.1 trillion and consumers owing 124 percent of their real disposable income. In the US, the figure is equally worrisome: With consumer credit reaching $2.56 trillion in April, US household debt ballooned to 136 percent of disposable income last year, according to the Federal Reserve. (more…)