(Amended) April retail sales sans cars down 3 per cent

Singapore

RETAIL sales in Singapore rose 3.8 per cent in April from a year ago but only because of motor vehicles. Otherwise, retail sales would be down 3 per cent, according to the Department of Statistics (DOS) on Wednesday.

Motor vehicles sales rose 43 per cent year on year. Total retail sales in April came to S$3.5 billion, up from S$3.3 billion a year ago.

Economists point to the continued decline in discretionary spending as consumers become more cautious due to the poor economic outlook.

CIMB Private Banking economist Song Seng Wun noted that the World Bank has downgraded expected global growth (to 2.4 per cent from 2.9 per cent) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore has just released statistics of slowing economic growth in Singap…