Dec retail sales rise below economist forecasts

Singapore

SINGAPORE'S retail sales rose by a smaller-than-expected 2.6 per cent in December compared to a year ago. However, excluding the sales of motor vehicles, retail sales saw a 3.2 per cent decrease, said the Department of Statistics on Friday.

The data fell short of economists' expectations. A total of 12 forecasts submitted to Bloomberg presented a median estimate of a 4.5 per cent year-on-year rise in retail sales. Excluding the sales of motor vehicles, private-sector economists had forecast retail sales to rise by 0.5 per cent.