Cyprus credit card decline appears to bottom out in November

Local credit card spending in the Republic of Cyprus fell by 3% compared with the year earlier in the first 11 months of 2009, according to data from the credit card company JCC.
Local plastic card use by Cyprus residents reached EUR 1,645,343,793 (EUR 1.6 bln) in January-November.
In November alone, sales were flat compared with the November 2008, at EUR 142.0 mln, having fallen by 4% in October and 6% in September. Thus, the decline in credit card purchases appears to be bottoming out.
Expenditure by foreigners in Cyprus has fallen in line with dropping tourist arrivals. Spending with non-Cyprus cards fell year on year by 16% in the first 11 months to EUR 392.2 mln, the same fall recorded in January-October. In 2008 spending by non-residents fell by only 3% to EUR 491 mln.
The picture continues to be more buoyant for Cypriot spending abroad.
Residents of Cyprus spent EUR 949.1 mln abroad in January-November, a rise of 7% compared with the same period of 2008.
In November alone, spending rose by 5% compared with the same month of 2008.

Meanwhile, data on merchant turnover show that that the highest proportion of spending volumes in the southern part of Cyprus during January-November (20.2%) was spent in supermarkets.
The second highest proportion (13.3%) was spent on clothing, while non-specified retailers were third at 11.9%.
A fairly high proportion of spending (7.1%) was on government services. It is now possible to pay online using plastic cards for a range of public services, such as car tax and utilities bills.