Promising signs when it comes to consumer arrears. 

The latest Centrix data shows the number of people behind on their payments in January was 491 thousand. 

That was up 20 thousand from December, largely expected due to seasonal trends. 

But Chief Operating Officer Monika Lacey told Mike Hosking that despite the seasonal increase, arrears are still down on last year by almost 1%. 

She says overall, Kiwis are managing their money quite well. 

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