Spending in New South has roared back to life following the first week of eased restrictions.

Speaking on the Today Show this morning, NAB Group CEO Ross McEwan said the $825 million spent in Sydney alone last week was encouraging news for Victorian businesses about to come out of lockdown.

“Sydney certainly bounced back,” Mr McEwan said, who was speaking from Docklands café Focaccino.

“Restaurants, bars and pubs welcomed patrons back and secured $116 million, up by 54% on the week before.”

“Thirty-four million dollars was spent in beauty shops and hairdressers, up by 561% on the week before, and clothing stores saw $82 million through the door, up by 351% on the week before.

“What’s really interesting is that even on the same week last year, which was out of lockdown, Sydney was up 8% last week.

“So you are seeing a really good bounce back in Sydney and I expect this to happen in Victoria as we come out of lockdown as well.”

People in NSW are also back to booking holidays with car rentals seeing a $2 million spend (up 40% on the week before), accommodation spend at $24 million (up by 28% on the week before) and around $400,000 spent with airlines (up by 19% on the week before).

Victorian businesses are celebrating news that the state will start to ease restrictions this week, inviting more people back to the city streets.

Melbourne café owner Patty Theo from Focaccino said she was excited to have more customers coming back soon.

“I can’t wait to see more people back in the office so that we see more customers in the shop,” Ms Theo said.

“It’s been extremely quiet but the whole way through we’ve tried to stay positive and make the best of a bad situation.”

Mr McEwan said he expected a rush of people back in CBD offices once the requirement to wear masks is removed.

“It is businesses like Focaccino that have to get going again, and to do that we need people back into our cities and back into our offices. These are the things that will help these small businesses really bounce back to life,” Mr McEwan said

“Getting Victoria going is actually about getting small businesses going. It’s a chain reaction,” he said.

Anyone who still needs help from the impacts of COVID-19 can find more information on NAB support available here.

Support options include the NAB Business Recovery Loan, designed to help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that have been hit hard by the economic impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19). The loan is provided as part of the Federal Government’s SME Recovery Loan Scheme.

Estimated spending figures were based on NAB’s merchant terminal data during Sydney’s first six days out of lockdown (Monday-Saturday).