Post-lockdown cash splash at $150m a day

The easing of Covid-19 lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne has led to a surge of extra spending.

As spending has grown in NSW the number of people on Covid disaster support payments has halved since the reopening. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The easing of lockdowns in ­Sydney and Melbourne has led to a $150m daily spending surge, with an extra $1.3bn spent in NSW since restrictions were ­lifted.

The vast majority of the extra spending has been on hair and beauty care, in-store shopping after retail was closed for months, and recreation.

On a daily basis, extra spending in NSW is now at $105m – up 20 per cent – and in Victoria it is $45m – up 10 per cent, bringing the daily total for the two states to $150m.

On the basis of the latest figures Josh Frydenberg said “there is a lot Australians can look ­forward to at Christmas”.

The latest figures come as the federal Finance Department ­revealed an unexpected rise in personal income and company tax receipts, which was enough to rule out an official second Covid-19 recession.

September quarter returns for income and company tax show $16.3bn more than had been predicted – defying forecasts the Sydney and Melbourne lockdowns would cause a second ­recession.

“Incredibly, in NSW, spending has already surpassed pre-lockdown levels, with people getting back out doing the things that they love,” the Treasurer told The Weekend Australian.

“Spending in Victoria is also recovering and I am confident, as restrictions ease further in line with NSW, that we will see similar levels of activity across the state.

“Early spending data shows that our economic comeback is on, with our economy primed to recover strongly from the Delta lockdowns.”

As spending has grown in NSW the number of people on Covid disaster support payments has halved since the reopening, falling by more than 600,000 since the state reached a double-dose vaccination rate of 70 per cent on October 6.

In the ACT the number of ­people on Covid disaster payments has also halved.

But Mr Frydenberg said the decline in Covid payments had not led to a rise in the number of people on unemployment ­benefits.

In NSW, the total number of people on unemployment benefits fell by 4700 in the fortnight to October 22 and has fallen by more than 7200 since September 24 at the height of the lockdown in Sydney.

“As this emergency income support comes to an end, our world-leading vaccination rates will ensure that lockdowns remain a thing of the past,” he said.

“Over the course of the pandemic, the balance sheets of households and businesses have strengthened, with an ­additional $330bn accumulated that wasn’t there before the ­pandemic.”