2010-06-01 17:22

CANBERRA: Australian consumers have been showing some resilience to rising interest rates, forking out over A$20.1 billion ($16.85 billion) at the shops in April, new data showed on Tuesday.

Retail spending rose by a seasonally-adjusted 0.6 percent in April following an upward revision to 0.8 percent growth in March, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

The data came just hours before the Reserve Bank of Australia was due announcing its latest decision on interest rates following a monthly board meeting.

Economists expected the central bank to hold fire on another increase this month, having raised the cash rate for three consecutive months, and a total of six times since October last year.

Recent upheavals in global financial markets were another reason to sit tight on rates this time around, they said.

At the same time, building approvals has sunk 14.8 percent to 14,144 units in April.

The bureau said private home approvals dropped 13.5 percent in the month, compared to March, while the volatile other dwellings component, such as apartments and townhouses, has fell 5.4 percent after a massive 58.3 percent increase the previous month.