Retail spending increased 1% in June as as government stimulus payments and interest rate cuts flowed through into spending, according to ABS figures. ABS also upwardly revised the May figure to 0.8%, in what have been the strongest two months for retailing spending in years.
Australia’s trade balance also swung into a narrow surplus of $9 million due to lower imports.
As a result, it is now expected that the RBA will leave interest rates unchanged next week.
