Stephen Sklaroff is Director General of the Finance & Leasing Association and he is a member of the Worshipful Company of International Bankers. Previous to this he was Deputy Director General of the Association of British Insurers and worked in the former Department of Energy and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Stephen considers credit to be a major enabler of economic growth in the UK and a means of spreading personal wealth across the population. He thinks most individuals manage their credit very well, and that the statistics need to be put in perspective. While it would not be in the credit card companies' interest to encourage irresponsible borrowing and that a great deal of effort has been made by the industry to carry our sophisticated credit checks.