WELLINGTON (Reuters) -Consumer confidence in New Zealand weakened in July, while household inflation expectations cracked 5%, ANZ-Roy Morgan data showed on Friday.
The consumer confidence index rose to 94.7 in July from 98.8 in June. A reading above 100 shows optimism, while below that indicates pessimism. Inflation expectations lifted 0.2 points to 5.1%, the highest since March 2023, according to the survey
“While 5.1% is well out of line with headline inflation of 2.7%, some prominent necessities are increasing at a much higher rate than that, including food (4.2%), insurance, electricity and council rates,” said ANZ Chief Economist Sharon Zollner.
“At this stage of the business cycle, inflation in necessities is crowding out discretionary spending and potentially restraining price inflation in those items,” she added.
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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