KEY POINTS:
In a small piece of good news for the Reserve Bank, the trend in electronic card transactions has had its lowest annual rise since first being calculated.
Statistics New Zealand published figures yesterday showing the 77 million electronic card transactions with New Zealand merchants in June had a value of $4.4 billion.
After adjusting for seasonal fluctuations, the figure represented a 0.5 per cent increase in the value of total card spending in June compared with May. The overall trend was 8.3 per cent higher last month than in June 2006. That was the smallest annual rise since measuring the trend started in October 2002.
The trend reflects not only changes in consumer spending and prices but also changes in merchants' and customers' use of payment technologies.
A slowdown in the trend could be a hint that consumers are starting to rein in spending from the high levels that have been causing the Reserve Bank such concern as it tries to control inflation.
Between November 2004 and March 2007 the annual increase in the trend was generally between 9 and 11 per cent. Since April it had slowed to less than 9 per cent.
For the year to the end of June, the 924 million electronic transactions had a value of $54 billion, compared with 849 million transactions worth $49.3 million for the June 2006 year.
Breaking down the overall figure, the value of card transactions in the retail industry was $3.3 billion in June and rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8 per cent from May.
For the core retail industry, which excludes vehicle-related industries, the value of transactions in June was $2.8 billion which, when adjusted, was 1.3 per cent higher than a month earlier.
The series is still experimental, but Statistics NZ said it could be used as an indicator of the change in consumption expenditure and economic activity in general.
- NZPA
