Australian retail sales rose at their fastest pace since late 2008 in March as the economy got a second surge from government economic stimulus efforts and a hefty cut in official interest rates.
Also in March, Australia recorded its second-largest trade surplus in history largely as a result of falling imports and still high contract prices for bulk commodity exports.
Retail sales rose a higher-than-expected 2.2% to a seasonally adjusted $19.30bn in March, the Bureau of Statistics said. Economists had expected a 0.5% rise in sales. The bounce recouped a large drop in February.
The monthly rise in sales was the largest since December 2008 when the first government stimulus package hit. Sales also rose 1.0% in the first quarter from the fourth quarter 2008 in volume terms, it said.