Slight slowdown in credit cards

The total spending of creditcard holders in July recorded Bt78.1 billion, rising 14.3 per cent on year. It slightly slowed down compared to a 16.9-percent hike in June.

Domestic spending through cards was Bt57.5 billion, up 14.5 per cent yearonyear, compared with a 21.3-percent increase in the previous month.

All cardissuers saw decline in spending during the month when headline inflation touched a 10year high of 9.2 per cent and core inflation was 3.7 per cent, higher than the Bank of Thailand's upper range of inflation targeting.

The government's economic stimulus package was implemented only in August. The six measures have helped boosted consumer purchasing power as their daily expenses are subsidised by the government.

Domestic spending through cards issued by Thai banks jumped 17.3 per cent from last July.

It grew at a slower pace than the 24.4percent growth in June, according to the data released by the central bank.

Those issued by foreign branches rose only 6.1 per cent to Bt8.7 billion in July, compared with a 13.5percent rise in the previous month.

And those issued by nonbanking companies increased 14.5 per cent to Bt20 billion, compared with a 20.7percent hike in June.

Moreover, creditcard spending overseas also slowed down in July compared with the previous month.

It amounted to Bt3.2 billion in July, surging 15.2 per cent from last July, but lower than 18.6 per cent in June.

External spending via cards issued by Thai banks grew only 8.4 per cent to Bt1.2 billion in July. It was significantly lower than the 17.7 per cent yearonyear growth in June.

Those issued by foreign full branches and nonbank companies did not change much, with 18 and 20percent hikes, respectively.

However, total cash advance apparently rose 13.6 per cent to Bt17.3 billion in July. It grew only 3.7 per cent in June. The cardholders mostly withdrew from the cards issued by Thai banks.

Those issued by Thai banks jumped 22.3 per cent from last July to Bt12.2 billion, compared with a 4.21percent hike in June.