New Zealand Retail sales (ex. inflation) for Q1: +0.7% q/q (vs. expected +0.9% q/q)

Retail sales (ex. inflation) for Q1, +0.7% q/q

• expected +0.9% q/q, prior was +1.2% q/q

From Statistics NZ:

• Looking at the longer-term picture, the trends for both total retail sales volumes and values have generally been rising since mid-2009.
• In actual terms, the value of total retail sales was $18.3 billion in the March 2014 quarter, up 3.4 percent compared with the March 2013 quarter.

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We’ve seen some activity in NZ already this morning, centred around the release of the RBNZ Financial Stability report for May:

• RBNZ says house prices remain overvalued
• RBNZ’s Wheeler: Says rate rises will help damp house price inflation
• RBNZ’s Wheeler again: Says the RBNZ will ‘feel our way’ through the tightening phase