Bloomberg.com, 14 May 2010
May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s retail sales unexpectedly fell in March as rising car prices prompted consumers to hold off purchases, a decline that may ease as record economic growth and improving tourism revive spending in the coming months.
The retail sales index slid 2.4 percent from a year earlier after gaining a revised 4.6 percent in February, the Statistics Department said today. The median estimate of seven economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 1 percent gain.
“Weaker car sales continue to exert a drag on the numbers,” Alvin Liew, an economist at Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore, said before the report. Car prices “were driven higher due to the shortage of certificates of entitlement that allow the ownership of cars.” Full Story
Related:
Singapore Retail Sales Record Surprise Fall In March - Daily Markets
Singapore Retail Sales Unexpectedly Fall on Declining Car Sales - BusinessWeek
