The "Meritorious Service" Of Retail Sales In South Africa: Textiles, Clothing, Footwear And Leather Products

According to reports, sales growth in South Africa's retail sector was better than expected in May this year, so the second quarter is expected to grow slightly after the first quarter economic contraction.

On Wednesday, the Statistics SA released statistics in May, with an annual growth rate of 4.5% in retail sales, the largest increase since January 2014 and 1.6% in April.

Although the Bureau of Economic Research and FNB bank announced that the consumer confidence index had dropped sharply in the second quarter of this year, household consumption expenditure was likely to shrink, but retail sales rose unexpectedly.

According to the Statistics SA data, the retail sales volume seasonally adjusted for the 3 months before the end of May this year increased by 0.5% compared with the previous 3 months.

In addition to the retail sales outperform expectations, the manufacturing statistics released on the previous 1 days were also better than expected, leading to more market experts that the second quarter of this year should have a chance to grow slightly.

Senior economic analyst said May this year.

The meeting of the central reserve banks decided to maintain interest rates unchanged, and the strength of South African currencies and inflation pressure slowed down in the past few months, resulting in a slight increase in the disposable income of consumers. However, the canal is cautiously optimistic about whether retail sales can continue to grow. After all, consumers still face high cost of living, and the rising unemployment rate and high debt are important factors to increase the burden of households.

In addition, business management consultants recently conducted a survey of 1000 South African consumers. Almost 70% of respondents were worried that they would be unemployed in the near future, and more than half of respondents also indicated that their living expenses were tight.

Retail sales growth is mainly dependent on sales growth.

The general distributor and retailer of footwear and leather products, because the industry usually sells less expensive goods in times of economic hardship.

Still capable of buying.

In addition, in June this year, the bank's interbank trading volume index BankservAfrica Economic Transaction index, which measures 5 million of South Africa's trading volume, also edged up by 0.3%, an improvement over May. This shows that the economic vitality of June has recovered slightly, but the increase is still the smallest growth rate in the year, reflecting the weakness of economic growth.

The index also reflects the degree of economic fluctuation of various sectors, such as slight signs of improvement in the manufacturing sector.

Market analysts pointed out that South Africa's economic stagnation in the past 2 years, and there is no indication that economic growth will rise in the near future. The monthly economic pactions are still volatile.

In addition, the South African chamber of Commerce and Industry released the June business activity index, which rose slightly to 51 points, better than 50 points in May, reflecting a slight improvement in the activities of the business sector.

Although the index's 50 point represents business improvement, respondents are still concerned about many issues, including lack of relevant reports from government departments.