KEY POINTS:
More evidence the economy might be slowing has come from new electronic card transaction figures.
Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) today said 79 million electronic card transactions (ECT) were made in July, totalling $4.6 billion.
When adjusted for seasonal fluctuations that represented a 0.1 per cent decrease in the value of total card spending compared with June, SNZ said.
The overall trend was 8 per cent higher last month than in July 2006, the smallest annual increase in the experimental ECT series trend since the series started in October 2002.
The trend reflected not only changes in spending and prices but also changes in merchants' and customers' use of payment methods, SNZ said.
Between November 2004 and March 2007, the annual increase was generally between 9 per cent and 11 per cent, but since April this year the annual increase in the trend had slowed to less than 9 per cent.
The retail ECT subset series decreased a seasonally adjusted 0.4 per cent in July from June.
The core retail ECT series, which excludes vehicle-related industries, was down 0.6 per cent.
Today's electronic card figures add to data from areas of the economy such as housing, immigration, retail and services pointing to the possibility of a slowing in economic activity.
The indications could bring some relief to the Reserve Bank which has pointed to the need for a sustained period of slower growth in domestic activity to alleviate inflation pressures.
In its bid to slow the economy, the Reserve Bank has lifted the official cash rate by a total of 1 percentage point this year to 8.25 per cent.
- NZPA