Retail sales revenues nationwide experienced an average monthly increase of 2 percent in the first six-months of the year despite decreases in the industrial production value and exports.

The information was released by domestic market controllers at a meeting in Hanoi on June 30.

The increase proved the effectiveness of the synchronous measures taken by the Government in anticipation of the economic recession, they said.

The experts’ findings show that Vietnam ’s retail sales revenues were 547.495 billion VND (30.4 million USD) in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 20 percent. However, if price increases are factored in, the country posted a year-on-year rise of only 8.8 percent in retail sales.

The first two months saw no change in retail sales as consumers as well as enterprises cut back on expenses. However, sales started to rebound in March thanks to the Government’s stimulus packages, as well as promotions and sales spearheaded by enterprises themselves.

Experts also forecast a price increase for several domestic commodities from now till the year-end as the result of a slight bump in prices for major material inputs on the world market, such as petroleum. However, this will not cause a price hike on the domestic market, thanks to an abundant supply of goods and policies to exempt and reduce taxes./.