Card spending increases lag behind price rises

Spending on electronic cards rose 6.4% in April from a year earlier, a slower pace of growth than the 6.7% annual inflation in the March quarter. Retail spending on credit and debit cards rose to $6.5 billion in April from $6.11b a year earlier, with a 15.5% increase in hospitality spending to $1.27b and a 9.7% rise in spending on consumables to $2.55b underpinning the increase and outpacing the 6.7% annual pace of inflation. Spending on fuel shrank 3.8% to $542 million and spending on vehicle and parts was down 2% at $186m while spen...