FX.co ★ Australia Retail Sales Rise In February

Australia saw a rise in retail sales within the month of February, partially driven by an influx of spending on clothing, merchandise, accessories, and dining instigated by Taylor Swift concerts, according to the Australia Bureau of Statistics.

In February, retail sales saw an increase by 0.3 percent, succeeding an ascent of 1.1 percent in January and preceding a decline of 2.1 percent in December. The forecast had anticipated sales to increase by 0.4 percent.

However, Ben Dorber, the ABS head of retail statistics, cautioned that apart from the short-lived boost from the Taylor Swift concerts, the basic growth in retail turnover only rose by 0.1 percent. After a period of significant fluctuation from November to January, underlying spending has flatlined, Dorber further observed.

Dorber also suggested that an additional turnover increase for catering services, cafes, restaurants, and takeaway businesses indicates consumers are still willing to spend at large social events. Such events included the highly attended tennis and cricket matches last month.

An economist at Capital Economics, Abhijit Surya, affirmed that the mild uptick in retail sales supports the view that consumer spending is likely to remain tame this quarter. Should these trends continue, Surya predicts the Reserve Bank of Australia will only proceed to slash interest rates in November, despite market anticipations of a cut by as early as August.

Recent data from the RBA showed that private sector credit grew 5.0 percent annually in February, a slightly accelerated pace from January's 4.9 percent expansion. Simultaneously, housing credit annual growth remained at 4.2 percent in February.