Goldman Sees China Household Spending Rising 4.5% in Second Half

China’s household spending may rebound in the second half of 2022, increasing 4.5% from a year earlier as Covid restrictions ease and the economy begins to recover, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists.

That expansion would follow a gloomy second quarter, with Goldman forecasting spending in the April-to-June period likely contracted 1.5%, largely because of slower growth in family cash flows, a battered services sector and dampened sentiment, as reflected by a rising desire for precautionary saving.