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Increasing Interest Rates To Crack Down On Christmas Consumption In Australia

2010/12/29 14:11:00 51

"This Christmas is full of drama for Australia's retail industry."

Australia

retail

Osmond, President of ANRA, told the first Financial Daily reporters that "a series of positive benefits such as controllable inflation, high employment rate and strong Australian dollar have not been able to open the wallet that consumers are locked up. Up to 75% of consumers said they would maintain or even cut Christmas spending this year on the basis of last year."

According to the latest statistics from authoritative organizations, Australia's inflation rate has decreased from 3.0539% in the second quarter to 2.7877% in the third quarter after the strong increase in interest rates of the 7 consecutive rounds of the Australian Federal Reserve. It is expected that the fourth quarter will be controlled at 2.27%.

A report from IMF stressed: "although Australia has performed well in controlling inflation, we still need to carefully consider the high level of household debt. Increasing interest rates will have a significant impact on domestic demand."

In response to the joint pressure of retailers and borrowers, the Australian Federal Reserve issued a statement on the 21 th of this month, confirming that interest rates will be stabilized at 4.75% and will not raise interest rates in the near future.

The Australian union said it aimed to give a positive signal to Christmas consumption and that inflation had been effectively controlled.

Customers only watch but not buy.

Retailer

It is difficult to get caught between banks and consumers. On the one hand, rising interest rates are increasing credit pressure on retailers. On the other hand, more cautious consumers are reluctant to rescue them, especially in clothing, shoes and hats, accessories and home products.

Australian deep economic observer Nickel told this newspaper.

Along the George street in downtown Sydney, reporters saw all kinds of discount advertising all the way "red", the discount rate is about half price, and some stores even played 2 folded signs.

A shopkeeper of a brand women's clothing store told reporters: "we launched Christmas discounts early in early November, and even came up with new sales promotions, but the customers just looked at them."

Reporters learned that, in order to reverse the weak situation, Australia's large scale this year

Shopping Mall

Super value shopping cards have been launched.

According to a person in charge, the biggest advantage of this kind of shopping card is that it can be used as a gift to friends and family members, indirectly increasing the viscosity of customers, so that customers can choose to spend in their shopping centers for the first time.

"This is perhaps the most difficult Christmas for Australian businessmen in the past 20 years," commented the Sydney pioneer morning news.

Australia's GDP rose only 0.2% in the three quarter, followed by a 1.1% decline in retail sales after the 10 quarter, and the unexpected increase in interest rates before the Australian Federal Reserve before Christmas.

But we believe that a healthy market with low inflation has more long-term significance than retail data. "

Overseas spending is worthwhile.

Although Fed officials believe that raising interest rates can help residents increase savings and reduce loans to effectively control inflation risk, real estate analysts say high interest rates will seriously affect the consumption level of loan families, including Christmas expenses.

Data show that the third quarter of this year, Australia's household savings rate has increased from 8.9% in the second quarter to 10.2%.

Mr. and Mrs. Bastien are going to have a quiet Christmas at home this year. They told reporters: "now the monthly repayment is the biggest financial burden in the family, and the figures on the bill increase month by month. So we cancelled the travel plan this year, and prepared to save more money to repay the loan as soon as possible."

At the same time, under the strong Australian dollar, overseas online shopping has become the new favorite of consumers.

"When the Australian dollar rose from 0.82 to 0.90, our business volume increased by 10 percentage points, indicating that consumers are becoming more and more familiar with the exchange rate to save money."

EBay network Australian spokesman Feller commented.

According to statistics, about 1/4 of Australian online shopping this year came from overseas, mainly in clothing, books and electronic products.

Moreover, a strong Australian dollar has given people more choices for foreign consumption.

Living in Australia this year, marry spent his Christmas in Germany. He told reporters: "this year the Australian dollar has reached a record high against the euro. At this time, travel to Europe can save nearly 20% of its cost than usual."

The head of an international travel agency said: "this year, the international airline tickets for the first time have been snapped up, especially for tickets in the US and Europe."