Spending on vehicles climbs

The value of electronic card transactions on motor vehicles increased by 5.5 per cent in March when compared to February.

The total went up by $11 million, while expenditure on fuel rose by 1.3 per cent and by $7.3m.

As for the March 2023 quarter, spending on vehicles rose by 0.7 per cent for an increase of $4.5m and fuel slipped back $147m and 8.1 per cent compared to the December 2022 quarter.

Overall retail card spending rose by $45m, or 0.7 per cent, in March compared with February, when adjusted for seasonal effects, reports Stats NZ. “Spending rose across all categories, except for groceries and liquor,” says Ricky Ho, business performance manager.

Seasonally adjusted spending in the March 2023 quarter increased by $227m, or by 1.2 per cent, when compared with the previous quarter.