Economists and the entire retail industry may not be in favor of conservative consumer spending behavior, but the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said it is still a positive sign.

The RBA expects consumers to keep off from spending in the month ahead; and, as a result, most likely forestall another interest rate hike this October. The expectation stemmed from data regarding the limited use of credit.

The use of credit as a basis for the forecast now downplays the gross domestic product (GDP) findings in household spending in the June quarter. Findings showed a surprising 1.6 percent rise in consumer spending while household savings dropped from 3.4 percent to 1.5 percent in the second quarter. The GDP data in comsumer spending translates to an annual growth rate of 6.6 percent.

Reserve Bank assistant governor Philip Lowe drew attention to declining credit growth since it is seen as a more direct measure of the national accounts. He said, “Despite the considerable optimism about the future, household spending has been relatively restrained over the past couple of years and the appetite for debt has declined. Partly as a result, the pace of household borrowing has slowed significantly.”

The assistant governor has also given greater emphasis to employment figures as an indicator of economic activity and household credit as a measure of consumer savings.