Indonesia's Dec retail sales post highest growth in 5 months
Bareksa • 11 Feb 2014
A woman looks at items at a pharmacy in Tokyo (REUTERS/Yuya Shino)
In December, retail sales grew 26.6 percent from a year earlier
Reuters - Indonesia's annual retail sales in December grew at its fastest pace since July, spurred by spending for Christmas and New Year celebrations, a Bank Indonesia survey showed on Tuesday.
In December, retail sales grew 26.6 percent from a year earlier, bolstered by purchases of food, beverages and tobacco, but spare parts and accessories posted negative growth.
The central bank revised November retail sales to 17.9 percent from 14.0 percent previously.
On a monthly basis, sales surged 12.1 percent in December compared with 5.0 percent from the previous month.
However, the survey of 650 retailers in 10 major cities showed that sales expectations will be slowing down in the next three to six months as bad weather disrupts distribution.
In the coming three months, the survey said, seasonal factors will trigger higher price pressures for raw materials.
Retailers said they expected January sales to remain strong, rising 2.1 percent from a year earlier but falling 4.1 percent month-on-month.