WELLINGNTON, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The rise in retail card spending was boosted by sales of furniture, hardware, and appliances, New Zealand's statistics department Stats NZ said on Tuesday.
"For a third consecutive month, card spending on the long-lasting goods remained at higher levels than last year, after falling sharply during April's COVID-19 lockdown when stores were shut," retail statistics manager Kathy Hicks said in a statement.
In actual terms, spending on durables had the largest retail industry increase, up 20 percent compared with July 2019, Stats NZ said.
Retail spending using electronic cards reached 6 billion NZ dollars (4 billion U.S. dollars) in July 2020, up 11 percent from July 2019, it said.
"Continued card spending in July coincides with New Zealand being in alert level 1 for a full month, with few restrictions compared with level 4 lockdown in April," Hicks said.
The second highest spending increase was in supermarkets, specialized foods, and liquor stores, up 12 percent compared with July 2019, statistics showed.
"Kiwis are continuing to spend up on groceries and beverage-related supplies following another month of loosened restrictions," Hicks said. Enditem
