NZ plastic card spending jumps in January as credit appetite increases

Sun, 12 Feb 2017

By Paul McBeth Feb. 13 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealanders ramped up spending on plastic cards in January after a more subdued end to 2016 and continued to lean more heavily on their credit cards. Retail spending rose a seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent in January after two months of zero movement, the biggest monthly gain since December 2006, with increases across all six industries, Statistics New Zealand said. Stripping out vehicle-related spending, core retail sales rose 2.5 percent in the month led by a 3.1 percent increase in durable ite...

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