Indonesia Retail Sales Growth Improves

(RTTNews) - Indonesia's retail sales expanded at the fastest pace in seven months in March, final data from the Bank Indonesia showed on Wednesday.

Retail sales rose 5.5 percent year-on-year in March, faster than the 2.0 percent rise a month ago.

The overall annual growth was mainly driven by increased sales of food, beverages, tobacco, cultural and recreational goods, and clothing.

On a monthly basis, sales growth accelerated to 13.6 percent in March from 3.3 percent in February as a seasonal spike in demand during the Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr festive period was bolstered by the various discount pricing strategies deployed by retailers.

Nonetheless, Bank Indonesia expects retail sales to fall 6.9 percent in April compared to the previous month as private demand normalizes after the Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr festive period.

Based on the flash estimate for April, sales show a 2.2 percent decline on an annual basis.