KEY POINTS:
The total value of electronic card transactions (ECT) was 1 per cent lower in March than in February, on a seasonally adjusted basis, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) says.
Looking just at retail industries, the fall was a smaller 0.3 per cent, and when vehicle-related industries were excluded from the retail subgroup the reduction was even smaller with a fall of just 0.1 per cent.
SNZ said the two fewer trading days in March this year due to Easter, which usually fell in April, may have contributed to the decreases, but it was not possible to quantify that impact.
The trend in the total ECT series was 7.1 per cent higher last month than in March 2007, with the rate of annual increase having decreased slightly during the past three months, from 7.5 per cent in February and 7.9 per cent in January.
Last month 85 million ECTs were recorded with New Zealand-based merchants, with a value of $4.7 billion. That compared with 81m transactions worth $4.6b in March 2007.
Among the retail industries, seasonally adjusted ECTs for the consumables industry had increased in March, but not by enough to offset falls in the durables and apparel industries, SNZ said.
The vehicle-related industries remained flat in March, despite a rise in fuel prices during the month.
- NZPA
