Retail sales lose steam, down 0.3pc.

(From The Dominion Post)

Byline: WEIR James

NEW ZEALAND shoppers paused for breath in April, with sales down 0.3 per cent from March and rising petrol prices taking a toll.

Total sales in April were worth $4.4 billion.

"Growth in retail spending looks to have lost steam in the early part of the second quarter," BNZ economists said yesterday, though they warned that the monthly figures were even more volatile than usual.

But the fall was not as bad as the near 1 per cent dip expected, economists said, which supported a view that interest rates would rise again next month to cool the economy down.

BNZ said it had expected …