Jakarta (VNA) – A survey by the Bank of Indonesia (BI) revealed that retail sales in the country improved in June, though it is still in a contractionary phase.

Real Sales Index (IPR) in June contracted 17.1 percent year-on-year, improving from a contraction of 20.6 percent year-on-year in May.

Sales improvement was seen in almost all commodity groups surveyed, especially for motor vehicle fuels, food, beverages and tobacco, and information and communication equipment, in line with the easing of large-scale social restrictions.

In July, there were indications that retail sales performance will continue to improve, even though it is still contracting. This is reflected in the forecast for July IPR growth of  minus 12.3 percent year-on-year, up from minus 17.1 percent in the previous month.

Inflationary pressure is predicted to ease in the third quarter of 2020, and to increase in the second half of the year.
 
Indications of a decline in price pressure are reflected in the Q3 General Price Expectation Index (GPIE) of 131.5, lower than the previous GPIE of 138.6.

Meanwhile, the GPIE for the next 6 months was recorded at 156.1, higher than the previous GPIE of 142.5. This increase is in line with the predicted increase in activity during the Christmas and year-end holidays./.
VNA