India Gets Caught up in Whirlwind of Credit Card Debt

It looks like credit woes are pretty much the same around the world. The Indian middle-class, enjoying rising prosperity, has gotten caught up in fast-rising revolving credit card debt that they seem to little understand and have difficulty managing.

Unsecured loans and credit card receivables more than three months overdue: 7%-9% of total loans outstanding this year; expected to rise to 15% according to ratings agency Crisil Ltd. in Mumbai.

Number of credit cards in India: 30 million, up 3x in the last 5 years.

At the end of FY '08 (ended March 31) Indians charged more than $14 billion on their credit cards, over 3x the amount charged four years ago.

Indians have little experience with handling revolving credit and more people are turning up desperate for help with their credit card payments, according to V.N. Kulkami, chief counselor at Mumbai's Abhay Credit Counseling Center, which advises borrowers.

Credit Card Payments in India 2004 - 2008

Source: WSJ

Number of Ambulances in New Dehli, India

According to the government, there are 35 working public ambulances with life-saving equipment to serve the needs of a population of over 14 million in New Dehli, India. This greatly contributes to the loss of life during terrorist attacks when the "golden hour" turns into the "golden four hours".

By way of contrast, there were 1,363,893 ambulance runs in New York City in 2007 (population est. 8,274,527), over 3300 per day, with an average response time of 8 minutes and 13 seconds throughout all five boroughs.

Ambulance Runs and Incidents New York City 2007

Source: FDNY

The Value of Global Trade - All Imports and Exports

The total value of all global trade imports and exports was some $25 trillion dollars in 2007, with China contributing about $2.3 trillion and India contributing about $250 billion.

Source: Wall Street Journal

China's trade with industrial and developing countries - China imports nearly 57% more from developing countries than industrial countries, while exports are nearly the same.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Global Imports of Rice, Cotton and Sugar: 2000 - 2008

Source: Wall Street Journal

Higher grain prices, due in part to Ethanol production, have hurt beef production, even as demand for beef grows among developing economies.

Source: Wall Street Journal