Manuel: Very Concerned With Household Debt

Another warning shot across the bow of consumers and homeowners from Minister of Finance Trever Manuel that interest rates are going up:

Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said he is "very concerned'' about record high consumer debt levels, warning that higher interest rates will make it difficult for some people to repay their debt.

"The question we have to ask ourselves repeatedly is what happens when interest rates go up,'' Manuel told journalists in Johannesburg on Tuesday. "I am very concerned. I am concerned in the same way that the governor of the Reserve Bank is concerned.''