Cyprus credit card spending leaps again in March

Credit card spending by locals leapt for the second month in a row in March according to data from the credit card company JCC.
Local plastic card use by Cyprus residents rose by 20% over the year earlier to EUR 162,743,042 (EUR 162 mln), having leapt by 12% in February.
In the period January-March, credit card spending by locals was up by only 5% to EUR 480 mln, owing to the steep decline in January. Local card sales fell by 3% in 2009.
Expenditure by foreigners in Cyprus also rose in March, recording an increase of 9% over the year earlier to EUR 24.3 mln. For the first three months of the year, spending by foreigners was up by 5%.
In 2009 spending by non-residents had fallen by 16% to EUR 412 mln.
Expenditure abroad by Cypriot residents continues to record an increase.
Residents of Cyprus spent EUR 285.0 mln abroad in the first two months of the year quarter, a rise of 16% compared with the same period of 2009.

Most credit card spending goes on supermarkets

Meanwhile, data on merchant turnover show that that by far the highest proportion of spending in January-March (20.2% of sales volume) was spent in supermarkets.
However, the second highest proportion (16.9%) was spent on government services. Some of these, such as road tax, can now be paid online.
Clothing was third, accounting for 12.0% of purchases, while “other retailers” was fourth, accounting for 10.5% of purchases.