Muted pickup in retail sales at S$3.4 billion in March

Singapore

SINGAPORE retail sales edged up by a muted 2.1 per cent in March from a year ago, bringing the total retail sales value to S$3.4 billion - similar to March 2014.

Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales declined 3.2 per cent.

Aside from the sales of motor vehicles - which jumped by 40 per cent as a result of the recent fall in prices of certificates of entitlement - and the sales of watches and jewellery and by department stores, which increased by 2.4 per cent and 0.3 per c…