Kiwi savers revert to type

Unprecedent savings during last year's lockdown haven't been blown (Image: Deposit Photos)

Mon, 26 Jul 2021

Contrary to the musings of a number of local commentators, New Zealanders have not spent nine months blowing every last cent of the money they ferreted away in lockdown. What Statistics New Zealand’s new national accounts’ income and balance sheet data reveal is that during lockdown we saved an unprecedented amount but have now returned to our more normal, and somewhat unwise, habit of spending everything we earn.The confusion arose when commentators saw the word saving and interpreted it as a stock variable (ie the savings we...

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