Consumers lift spending on credit, debit cards

Friday 21st November 2008

New Zealand consumers increased their spending on credit and debit cards last month, suggesting tax cuts, lower card costs and cheaper fuel are helping unlock people's wallets.

The value of electronic transactions rose 0.5% from the previous month to $4.8 billion, according to Statistics New Zealand. Excluding fuel and auto-related spending, the value of transactions rose 1%.

There were 90 million card transactions in October, according to the report.

The NZSE Consumer Index, which tracks prices of retailers and other consumer-related companies, fell 0.9% today and is down 41% in the past 12 months, making it the second worst performing sector on the NZX after building materials and construction.

By Jonathan Underhill

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