Domestic commercial sales stayed robust last month as household spending strengthened amid an economic recovery and a lower base of comparison last year, with sales figures at their highest in five months, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said in a report yesterday.
Domestic trade — including the retail, wholesale and food and beverage sectors — totaled NT$1.12 trillion (US$34.9 billion) last month, up 14.44 percent from the same period last year and 0.31 percent from the previous month, the report on the ministry’s Web site showed.
The figure was the highest since December last year when it posted NT$1.13 trillion, the ministry’s tallies showed.
The latest commercial sales data indicated that sales in the wholesale sector registered the biggest annual increase at 17.70 percent to NT$806.4 billion, mainly boosted by commodities, machinery equipment and chemical materials, which posted increases of 32.05 percent, 29.87 percent and 23.24 percent year-on-year respectively, the report said.
Companies in the retail sector also saw sales expand 6.90 percent year-on-year to NT$285.8 billion last month, thanks to increased consumption in vehicle and motorbike related items, while revenues in the food and beverage sector grew 6.61 percent to NT$30.4 billion, according to the report.
Based on the ministry’s calculations, retail sales have maintained steady growth since March, when they advanced 7.05 percent to NT$272.5 billion, suggesting that consumers were more willing to spend as the unemployment rate continued sliding. However, growth in general merchandise goods slowed in the month on the back of declining sales from department stores, which showed a slight drop of 0.02 percent from April.
“Overall, retail sales averaged 7.9 percent year-on-year in April-May, up from 4.37 percent in the first quarter. This indicates better household spending in the second quarter,” Citigroup Global Markets Inc said in a client note yesterday.
In the first five months of the year, domestic commercial sales totaled NT$5.42 trillion, up 13.01 percent from the same period last year, wherein wholesale trade grew 16.19 percent to NT$3.87 trillion and retail sales increased 6 percent to NT$1.4 trillion, the report showed.
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