Page 9 - bne IntelliNews weekly newspaper June 23

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June 23, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 9
Polish retail sales growth accelerates to 7.4% y/y in May
bne IntelliNews
Polish retail sales grew 7.4% y/y at constant prices in May, the statistics office GUS an- nounced on June 20.
The reading marks a pick-up in the pace of growth of retail sales over the 6.4% annual growth seen in April. It also shows that consump- tion, fueled by the tightening labour market, con- tinues to be a major driver of economic growth. Coupled with industrial production growth return- ing to a robust expansion pace in the fifth month, the Polish economy seems poised for another good quarter in April-June, after GDP growth surged to 4% y/y in January-March.
Retail sales grew 8.4% y/y in current prices in April. In monthly terms, retail sales stayed flat in constant prices and fell 0.2% m/m in current prices. In the first four months of the year,
growth came in at 6.9% y/y in constant prices and 8.5% in current prices.
Sales grew in all retail segments on an annual basis at constant prices. The quickest gain came in the textiles, clothing and shoes segment, where sales expanded 19.9% y/y. Sales growth in the pharmaceuticals segment came in at 13.2% y/y, while in the fuels segment the annual growth was 8.1%.
“We expect the positive trend to continue in
the coming months, although because of base effects the annual dynamics of growth in re- tail sales will slow down to an extent. Still, consumption is to remain the main driver of economy... and will affect positively the situation of the state budget and income from VAT,” Bank Millennium commented.