Card spending stalls; dearer petrol crowds out other goods

Mon, 11 Nov 2019

Spending on credit and debit cards fell for the first time in four months, with dearer petrol prices in October blamed for soaking up more of people's pay packets. Statistics New Zealand figures show retail spending fell a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent in October from the month before. Fuel spending rose 0.7 percent, and hospitality edged up 0.1 percent, the only two components to register increases in the month. They account for almost 30 percent of retail spending on electronic cards. Spending on plastic cards had increased in the f...

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