Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Average person seeking budgeting help owes $32,000

Updated at 8:31 pm on 23 September 2010

The Federation of Family Budgeting Services says the average New Zealander seeking budgeting help is more than $32,000 in debt and is likely to rise.

Statistics collected by the organisation over a period of 11 months to June this year shows debt has increased.

The federation says the average debt of those seeking help rose from $25,931 to $32,670.

Federation chief executive Raewyn Fox says the number of clients it sees has also gone up, while financial situations have become more complex.

She says the most disturbing thing is that each client is almost $5,000 overdue in debt.

Ms Fox says redundancies from the recession, easy credit and juggling various debts have complicated people's finances and the rise in GST from 12.5% to 15% on 1 October will make things worse.

The federation says people seeking their help tend to owe money to six or more creditors.

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