NZ spending on credit, debit cards shrinks in April

Tuesday 11th May 2010

Consumer spending on plastic eased in April, as the value of transactions fell from a month earlier.

The value of electronic point of sale transactions across all industries fell a seasonally adjusted 1% last month, after gaining 1.2% in March, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Retail sales, excluding motor vehicle-related industries, declined a seasonally adjusted 1.9%, with durables, including furniture, hardware and appliances, and consumables, such as food, liquor and chemist products, leading the fall.

The actual value of transactions rose 2.2% compared to the same month a year earlier.

“Trends for the value of transactions in the total, retail, and core retail series have all been increasing since January 2009, although the rate of increase has eased for each of the trends in recent months,” said Geoff Bascand, government statistician in a statement.

“These trend estimates may be revised and should be used with caution until more data points are available.”

The card data captures about two-thirds of New Zealand’s retail sales, though it doesn’t cover cash and cheque transactions.

Non-retail industries such as travel, health and wholesaling, were the least affected, gaining 0.2% in the month.

Businesswire.co.nz

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