Credit card spending rises in March despite Omicron

Credit card spending on the rise: New figures from the Reserve Bank show Kiwis using cards more in March. Photo / NZME

More Kiwis got their credit cards out in March as Covid's Omicron wave eased back from its peak across the country, according to new data from the Reserve Bank.

Seasonally adjusted total credit card billings in New Zealand were $3.8 billion during March, up 3.2 per cent from February 2022.

Meanwhile, overseas billings on New Zealand issued cards rose to $0.4 billion in March, as overseas travel restrictions eased.

This was the highest value of overseas billings recorded in a month since February 2020.

Domestic billings on New Zealand issued cards were $3.6 billion, up 2.2 per cent
from February 2022.

March saw Omicron case numbers pass their peak in New Zealand, however Traffic Light Alert levels were not eased until April.

Credit card billings in New Zealand had dropped in February as Omicron spread. The downturn was similar to August 2021 when the country was in alert level 4 lockdown.

Seasonally adjusted total billings in New Zealand were $3.7 billion during February 2022, down 2.6 per cent from January 2022.

In contrast, the latest Statistics NZ figures for overall retail spending in March showed a fall of 1.3 per cent ($77 million). That followed a drop of 7.8 per cent drop the previous month.

The latest NZIER Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion found net 33 per cent of businesses surveyed expect general economic conditions to weaken in the coming months on a seasonally adjusted basis, while a net 9 per cent of businesses reported weaker activity in their own business.

A combination of Omicron, rising costs and uncertainty around the war in Ukraine appeared to have weighed on survey respondents in March.

The retail sector was now the most downbeat of the sectors surveyed by NZIER, with a net 60 per cent of retailers surveyed expecting general economic conditions to deteriorate.