Australia’s retail sales fell along with inflation in 4Q
2023.02.06 01:55
Australia’s retail sales fell along with inflation in 4Q
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – As consumers reduced their spending on goods, Australian retail sales volumes fell for the first time in a year last quarter, indicating that rising borrowing costs are finally reducing spending.
Monday’s data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that real retail sales decreased by 0.2 percent to A$96.9 billion (66.99 billion) in the December quarter. That was still higher than what the market had predicted, at 0.6 percent, and it will have a small impact on economic expansion.
Retail price growth was also the slowest of the year in the quarter, according to the report. This may reassure the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) that its aggressive policy tightening is beginning to slow down demand.
On Tuesday, the central bank is expected to raise interest rates by a quarter point to 3.35 percent.
