Retail spending across Christchurch is continuing to plummet while supermarket spending rises.
Retail spending for the second week of April declined by 53.4 per cent in comparison to the same period last year. Whereas supermarket spending rose by 10 per cent, a lower percentage increase compared to the previous week which showed an increase of 29.8 per cent.
ChristchurchNZ economists Peter Fieger and David Dyason said they expected the downwards trend of retail spending to continue while alert level four remains in place.
However, they were optimistic things could change under alert level three.
"With the guidelines set out by Government for activity allowed during alert Level 3, we expect some improvement in spending at more retail establishments, but it will continue to be significantly lower than previous years," they said.
The Prime Minister will be making an announcement around whether the country will remain under alert level four or not today at 4pm.
