Cyprus credit card data suggest a fall in Q4 spending

Data from the credit card company JCC show that local plastic card use by Cyprus residents rose by 16% in January-December 2008.
However, this was slower than the 20% recorded in January-September 2008, suggesting that there was a slowdown or fall in credit spending in the fourth quarter, when compared with the same period of 2007.
According to JCC, total purchases using Cyprus-issued cards reached EUR 1.9 bln in 2008.
Expenditure by Cyprus residents abroad rose in the same period by 26% to EUR 972 mln, compared with an increase of 28% in the first nine months.
Expenditure by foreigners in Cyprus fell by 3% to reaching EUR 491 mln in 2008, having stagnated in January-September. FM.