New Zealanders were more inclined to leave their credit cards in their wallets last month - further evidence that the going is getting harder for the retail sector.
Reserve Bank figures out yesterday showed that $2.12 billion in purchases last month was financed on credit cards domestically issued.
That was an increase of 2.4 per cent on March last year and the weakest annual growth for 10 years.
Even with an 11.8 per cent increase in purchases financed by overseas-issued cards, total billings were down 2.7 per cent on February, seasonally adjusted.
Only once in the past 10 years has a bigger monthly fall been recorded.
The amount of credit card debt outstanding at the end of the month was $5.2 billion, the second highest ever and 8.3 per cent up on a year ago.
Also higher is the interest rate charged; at 19.9 per cent it is the highest since late 1998. But at any give time, nearly a third of the amount outstanding has yet to incur interest, so the effective rate is closer to 13 per cent.
The weak credit card data follow April's One News Colmar Brunton poll, taken last week, which recorded a further drop in consumer confidence.
A net 34 per cent of respondentsare pessimistic about the economy, compared with a net 25 per cent in March.
Goldman Sachs JBWere economist Shamubeel Eaqub said the pace of the recent deterioration in consumer sentiment and its level were consistent with at least one quarter of negative GDP growth and suggested that the economy was slowing more sharply than the Reserve Bank's March forecasts had projected.
