Retail sales in Australia rebound in July

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data showed that retail sales in Australia rose 0.5% in July after falling 0.8% in June, and sales of A$35.4 billion ($22.8 billion) rose 2.1% from a year earlier, the lowest since August. 2021.

Australia's ANZ Bank said last week that spending on its own cards fell 10.4% in the first 20 days of August as a combination of rising rates, high inflation and large rent payments hit consumers.

The sluggish trend in consumer spending is a major reason behind the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) pausing interest rate hikes for two consecutive months after raising interest rates by 400 basis points since May last year to an 11-year high of 4.1%.

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