NZ: Retail spending on electronic cards increased 0.4% in May - ANZ

Liz Kendall, Senior Economist at ANZ, notes that New Zealand’s retail spending on electronic cards increased 0.4% in May (seasonally adjusted), after falling 2.2% m/m in April. 

Key Quotes

“Nominal fuel spending increased 0.9% m/m, following last month’s 2.3% fall. Consumables increased 1.4% m/m, after falling 3.6% last month.”

“‘Core’ retail spending, which strips out motor vehicle-related spending, increased 0.4% m/m, after falling 2.1% m/m in April. Despite recent volatility, weakness in the pace of monthly spending growth is evident. In trend terms, monthly growth has eased from 0.4% at the end of 2017 to 0.2% per month currently. Today’s data point to genuine weakness in electronic card spending through Q2 to date.Nominal ‘core’ retail spending is down 1.7% over Q2 to date, following 3% growth in Q1.”

“This paints a picture of modest per capita consumption growth, given that tourism and population growth have been contributing to increases in nominal spending. Over coming months, we will be able to let the dust settle and get a steer on whether weak spending growth will persist.”