Jakarta – Indonesia's retail sales in July declined 3.3 percent from a year earlier, the first contraction in nearly six years, a central bank survey showed on Monday. In June, retail sales grew 6.3 percent on a yearly basis.
Respondents in the survey said sales of food and beverages as well as home furnishing and electronic appliances were particularly weak in July, Bank Indonesia wrote in the survey report.
The last month showing a contraction was September 2011, when BI said sales were 5.9 percent below a year earlier.
Consumption has been weak in Indonesia this year. Traditionally, there are strong sales ahead of the holidays at the end of the Muslim fasting month, and then a period of weak consumption. This year, the fasting month ended in late June.
The survey of 700 retailers in 10 major cities projected that in August, retail sales would rebound and grow 5.3 percent from a year earlier.
Respondents expect price pressures to increase in the next three to six months, but they also expect better sales by January 2018, the survey found. (Reporting by Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Richard Borsuk)