The recent lockdown restrictions in New South Wales (NSW) have had a lower impact on spending activity in the state compared to the recent Victorian hard lockdowns. Both Commonwealth Bank and Westpac Bank data revealed that overall household card activity had not made any significant drops in NSW after the first week of restrictions. Commonwealth Bank data found that credit and debit spending in the week ending July 2 dropped by 1.2 percentage points in NSW compared to the 21 percentage point drop in the first week of Victoria’s lockdowns. Similarly, during the first week of the respective lockdowns, Westpac’s Card Tracker Index (pdf) for NSW fell by 0.3 points, compared to the 13.5 point drop in Victoria. “What this data shows is that the type of lockdown matters for spending as does the community response,” Commonwealth Bank Senior Economist Belinda Allen said. When Victoria entered its four-week lockdown on …