New Zealand retail spending grew at its fastest quarterly pace since December 2006 as the inflow of tourists for the Rugby World Cup bolstered consumer demand. The kiwi dollar gained on the report.
The total volume of spending grew 2.2 per cent to $16.97 billion in the three months ended Sept. 30, according to Statistics New Zealand, beating the 0.7 per cent forecast in a Reuters survey of economists. Stripping out motor vehicle related spending, the core figure climbed 2.4 per cent.
The value of retail spending, which accounts for both sales volume growth and price hikes, climbed 2.1 per cent in the quarter to $17.32 billion, and was up 2.7 per cent when excluding auto-related spending.
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