Korea May dept store sales rise 1.0 pct y/y after fall in April

South Korea’s key retail sales on Sunday showed that private consumption in Asia’s fourth-largest economy remained sluggish in May at a time when exports are being dampened by a prolonged debt crisis in Europe.

Sales at the country’s top department stores in May grew 1.0 percent from a year earlier but fell short of making up for April’s 3.4 percent decline, data from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy showed.

Still, this was slightly better than a 0.2 percent decline initially estimated by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance earlier this month.

But discount stores saw their sales in May fall by a sharp 5.7 percent from a year earlier, marking the second consecutive month of decline year-on-year and suffering a deepening slump after a 2.4 percent drop in April, the data showed.

Finance minister Bahk Jae-wan said during a meeting with the heads of major local research institutions on Friday that domestic demand was improving gradually but cautioned that overall growth has yet to recover in a major way.

South Korean exports in May fell 0.6 percent from a year earlier, posting the fourth month of decline this year, as demand slowed from the major economies including China and the United States, customs data showed on Friday.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/06/17/korea-economy-retail-idINL3E8HF2OR20120617

 

Category: Korea