Wellington, Oct 4 (IANS): New data from Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) revealed on Monday that spending levels in the largest city of Auckland increased to 28 per cent after restrictions were further relaxed.

Nationwide, total card spending has rebounded to just 5 per cent below pre-lockdown levels, reports Xinhua news agency.

Auckland relaxed restrictions by moving to Covid-19 Alert Level 3 on September 22 for at least two weeks.

The city was previously at Level 4, the top-level lockdown for more than 30 days, longer than last year's lockdown, with schools and non-essential businesses closed.

Under Alert Level 3, construction work and takeaway services can resume with necessary safety measures in place, while most students are still encouraged to study at home.

BNZ Chief Economist Paul Conway said: "The move down to Alert Level 3 in Auckland has seen a big uptick in spending in the city, as people enjoy more freedoms and more businesses are able to operate, rebounding by 28 percent. This however is still 22 per cent below pre-lockdown levels for the city.

"Online spending has increased compared to pre-lockdown levels too, rising from 23 per cent of transactions to 28 percent now. Just how durable this is will remain to be seen as Auckland is able to get to lower Alert Levels, but so far shows the importance of businesses having a strong digital operation to match rising digital consumer demand."

Conway said the data is showing very encouraging signs, with spending continuing to rebound.

"It's clear that lowering the Alert Level sends a spending pulse through the economy, and this is particularly true of Alert Level 2.

"The experience outside of Auckland suggests another strong pulse will hit the economy when the city manages to join the rest of the country at Alert Level 2, though the full impact remains to be seen," said Conway.