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New Zealand shoppers spending more on plastic cards in Feb.

Xinhua, March 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

Spending by New Zealanders on their debit and credit cards jumped by 3.8 percent year on year to 4.4 billion NZ dollars (3.19 billion U.S. dollars) in February, the government statistics agency said Tuesday.

In actual terms, card spending rose in all retail industries except for fuel, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Retail spending on electronic cards was up 1 percent from January, following small falls in each of the previous three months.

Hospitality (accommodation, bars and restaurants) and durables (furniture, appliances and pharmaceuticals) had the largest rises, while fuel rose for the first time in three months, business indicators manager Neil Kelly said in a statement.

Core retail spending, which excludes the vehicle-related industries, rose 1.2 percent in February, following a 1-percent rise in January 2015. Endi