Indonesia retail sales rise in August, led by surge in non-food items

Retail sales in Indonesia rose during the month of August, gains being led by surge in food as well as non-food items such as spare parts and accessories.

Indonesia's annual retail sales in August grew at a much faster pace of 14.4 percent, data released by Bank Indonesia showed Tuesday. July annual retail sales growth was revised to 6.3 per cent from the 6.7 per cent reported previously.

The survey of 700 retailers in 10 major cities predicted that September retail sales growth would reach 15.7 per cent from a year earlier, also led by food and non-food sales. However, the survey predicted retail sales will be slowing in November due to seasonal factors. It also showed that price pressures would be higher in November, Reuters reported.