Low fuel prices fail to hold down New Zealand retail spending

New Zealanders upped their spending on their debit and credit cards last month, with year-on-year purchases rising despite the continued low fuel prices, the government statistics agency said Friday.

Retail spending using electronic cards totaled 4.8 billion NZ dollars (3.41 billion U.S. dollars) in May, up 3.3 percent from May last year, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Of the six retail industries, the only decrease in spending was in the fuel industry, where retail sales were down by 40 million NZ dollars (28.44 million U.S. dollars), or 6.6 percent.

"Despite recent rises, the price of fuel is still around 10 NZ cents (7 U.S. cents) lower than what it was in May last year," business indicators senior manager Neil Kelly said in a statement.

The largest increases in May were in consumables, which includes food and liquor retailing, and hospitality, which includes accommodation, bars and restaurants.

Core retail spending, which excludes the vehicle-related industries, fell by 0.1 percent in May, after a 0.3-percent rise in April. Endit