It was the third financial year in a row that New Zealand households racked up billions of dollars in debt, Stats NZ said yesterday.
A year earlier in March 2016, total savings in Kiwi households - the difference between household income and spending - was -$1.8 billion.
The last time Kiwi households saved more than they spent was in 2013, with household savings reaching a peak of $3 billion in 2012.
The hit to savings comes on the back of Kiwi households spending $152.1 billion in the March 2017 financial year, or $8.5 billion more than a year earlier.
This was despite total employee salaries in New Zealand growing by $5 billion to $114 billion last financial year.
Meanwhile, New Zealanders spent $219 million during Black Friday, up 10.9% on last year, says eftpos provider Paymark.
Excluding payments for food and hospitality, the value of transactions via the Paymark network were up 25% on the same Friday last year.
Black Friday originated in the United States and is a retail extravaganza following Thanksgiving, marking the first day of the US shopping season.
The retail event is a huge deal in the US and United Kingdom, and has been picking up in popularity with retailers and consumers in New Zealand over the past few years.
- NZH and NZ Herald
