Higher fuel spending in the three months ending December meant retail card spending lodged another increase, Statistics NZ figures released yesterday showed.
Retail spending rose a robust 1.7% in the December quarter.
However, core spending actually fell in December, affected by a recoil in apparel and hospitality spending.
The total value of electronic card spending, including the two non-retail industries (services and other non-retail), rose 0.2% in December to $8.5 billion. Card holders made 161 million transactions across all industries in December, an average value of $53 per transaction.
Fuel spending was up $24 million, or 4% in December. Consumables spending was up $14 million, or 0.7%, durables was unchanged, vehicles (excluding fuel) was down $200,000, or 0.1%, hospitality spending was down slightly to $1.3 million and apparel was down $6.8 million, or 2.2%.
ASB senior economist Mark Smith said rising household incomes were expected to support a moderate outlook for retail spending.
There were no immediate implications for the official cash rate (OCR).
Low core consumer price index inflation, the official measure of inflation, provided the Reserve Bank with the luxury of keeping OCR settings low, despite a solid activity backdrop, he said.
''Our expectation is for solid consumer spending growth over 2018, with more government support and an improved outlook for labour incomes.
''We expect the OCR to remain on hold over 2018.''
