NZ electronic card spending edges up in July
By Jason Krupp
Aug. 9 (BusinessDesk) –New Zealand lifted spending on credit and debit card transactions marginally last month, with
increased spending at bars and restaurants offsetting the drop in fuel retailing.
The seasonally adjusted value of total electronic card transactions rose 0.2% to $5.334 billion in the month, up from
$5.322 billion in June, according to Statistics New Zealand. Spending on core retail industries, which excludes motor
vehicle related industries, rose 0.5% to $3.37 billion, led by a 1.5% increase in hospitality spending.
The increased spending on hospitality suggests consumers were feeling more confident about the state of the local
economy in July, and loosening the grip on their wallets.
"While household debt levels remain high and credit growth weak, the stabilisation in the housing market, along with
improved household disposable income growth, is expected to allow for a slower pace of deleveraging," said Philip
Borkin, an economist at Goldman Sachs & Partners New Zealand. "This should allow for a larger share of each marginal dollar earned to be directed towards
spending, as opposed to saving or debt repayment."
Government data showed the country's jobless numbers declined this year, with the unemployment rate unchanged at 6.5% in
the three months ended June 30 after being revised down 0.1 percentage point in the March quarter. That’s lower than the
6.6% forecast in a Reuters survey and is down 0.4 percentage points in the past year.
Including the two motor vehicle categories in the electronic card data, the value of retail industries rose 0.4% in July
to $4.04 billion, reflecting a drop in prices at the fuel pump in the month on the back of strong New Zealand dollar,
with fuel retailing down 1.4% in the month. That follows a 3.7% fall in fuel spending in June and a 4.6% decline in May.
Spending on services and non-retail items rose 0.3% in the month.
Trends for the value of transactions have been rising since January 2009, the department said, with the trend for core
retailing strengthening since December 2010.
(BusinessDesk)