New Zealanders forking out more for fuel are obscuring a significant drop in other types of spending, Retail NZ says.
By Susan Edmunds of RNZ
Worldline data for March showed card spending overall rose 0.5% but Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said it hid a 33% surge at petrol stations.
"The 0.5% headline growth is a mirage," she said.
"Our analysis has found that behind that figure, fuel is doing the heavy lifting. If you account for that rise in fuel spend, we estimate core retail spending actually dropped by 1.2% year-on-year. That tells us consumers have aggressively cut back on their spending elsewhere during March.
"Every extra dollar spent on transport is a dollar lost to a local retailer. After several years of tough trading for retailers, many don't have the financial reserves to weather another sustained setback.
"When the official Stats NZ figures are released later this week, we expect them to confirm that while the overall number is in the black, the 'real' retail economy is seeing a significant downturn in volume."
She said, if people made an effort to shop in New Zealand, it would make a significant difference to the economy.
"Keeping that money in New Zealand will be much more important to keep jobs, keep businesses open ... this fuel crisis is going to have a major impact.
"I think people haven't really considered what the impact is beyond the pump."
She said the price of virtually everything could be affected.
"Any item that you buy is either brought into New Zealand from overseas or alternatively transported by road in New Zealand. Ninety-three per cent of freight in New Zealand is on road."
She said while Stats NZ data showed a drop in retail businesses in recent years, that could be set to happen again.
"Just at a time when we thought we were coming out the other side."
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