NZ credit, debit card spending rises 0.3 percent in June

Tuesday 10th July 2012

New Zealanders' credit and debit card spending increased for a third consecutive month in June, led by an increase in hospitality and consumable purchases.

The seasonally adjusted value of total transactions on electronic cards rose 0.3 percent to $5.56 billion, according to Statistics New Zealand. Spending on hospitality rose 3.1 percent to $638 million.

That was followed by consumable purchases rising 1 percent to $1.5 billion. "The latest month's increase was concentrated in core retailing, which was up 0.9 percent," Tehseen Islam, acting industry and labour statistics manager said in a statement.

Spending on durable goods rose 0.5 percent to about $1 billion. Apparel was the only core retail industry to buck the trend, slipping 0.3 percent to $281 million.

The data follows the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research's quarterly survey released this morning, which showed firms became more pessimistic in the June quarter as the nation's economic recovery lagged behind expectations.

Kiwis increased their spending on electronic cards on vehicles by 1.4 percent to $112 million, even as fuel recorded a decrease of 4 percent to $617 million.

That follows a 4.4 percent increase a month earlier. Unadjusted total spending on electronic cards jumped 5.3 percent to $5.2 billion.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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