Poor retail sales in the month of May compared to a year ago

It was yet another gloomy month for retailers in May, as sales figures fell six percent over the same month last year. Slow car sales were cited as the main reason for the slump, with weakening tourism numbers cited as another factor hurting retailers, reported The Straits Times. The English daily added that retail sales have been shrinking since February this year.

Data released by the Statistics Department yesterday indicated that motor vehicle sales have dwindled 26.8 percent in May, over the same period a year ago. This was partly due to a high base last year.

In the same month last year, loan curbs were temporarily lifted on the purchase of the pre-existing stock, which led to an increase in the number of cars sold then. If car sales were excluded, overall retail takings would have gone up marginally by 0.1 percent over May last year.