KEY POINTS:
The Bank of New Zealand is predicting strong retail spending for September when the figures are released on Thursday.
Spokesman Craig Ebert says the market is looking for a 0.6 per cent increase in sales, but the BNZ expects the rise to be as much as 1.4 per cent, because of strong key indicators it has already spotted. He says credit card billings and EFTPOS transactions were both unusually strong.
However, Mr Ebert says the headline result could be overstating the true pulse of consumer spending, because there was an element of 'catch-up' from a very flat June-August quarter.
And he says there are signs household budgets are getting squeezed, with mortgage rates going up and the housing market flattening out.
- NEWSTALK ZB
