Indonesia's retail sales rise in March

Source: Xinhua | 2019-05-08

Indonesia's retail sales increased in March due to increased demand for clothing, spare parts and accessories, a survey conducted by the central bank showed on Tuesday.
Indonesia's retail sales growth in March increased 10.1 percent year-on-year while the presiding month increased 9.1 percent.
The annual retail sales growth is forecast to go up 5.7 percent from the previous month, higher than 4.1 percent in the same period of last year.
The growth was driven by the higher demand for clothes, spare parts and accessories products.
The price pressure is projected to rise in June, indicating that the price expectation index rose by 174.6, a slight increase from 153.9 last month as rising demand usually exacerbates inflationary pressures in the country.
Despite this, the increase in retail sales growth in March did not generate annual core inflation, stripping off management prices and food price volatility.
Indonesia's central bank forecast inflation will accelerate at the range of 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent this year, equivalent to last year's expectation.
Consumption accounts for more than half of Indonesia's GDP growth.