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Retail sales slump as consumer spending hurt by raging inflation
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Set for shipment: Multipurpose vehicles are parked at Tanjung Priok Port’s car terminal prior to being exported on April 8. Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo) data shows that Indonesia exported 104,158 built-up cars in the first semester of this year. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra)
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etail sales were expected to be under pressure in September, after a strong performance in the previous month, particularly due to sluggish automotive-parts and fuel sales, as inflation deepened its scourge on consumers' buying power.
According to a publication released by Bank Indonesia (BI) on Tuesday, preliminary results on the retail sales index (RSI) in September were expected to drop by 1.8 points to 200 compared to the previous month, or 0.8 percent month-to-month (mtm) contraction, marking a lowest figure in the last seven months.
In annual terms, the RSI in September rose by 5.3 percent, as various restriction policies from COVID-19 pandemic were finally lifted.
The RSI is a monthly survey by the central bank that has been held since September 1999 on around 700 retailers to measure early detection on the movement of household consumption in GDP.
The largest drop in the last month occurred in motor-vehicle part sales, which contracted by 12.7 percent mtm to 106.3 points, while also experiencing a yearly sales decline of 0.3 percent.
Fuel sales decreased by 8.6 percent mtm to 90.6 points, but increased by 9.2 percent year-on-year (yoy). Both fuel and spare-parts sales were at their lowest point in this year.
Food, beverages and tobacco sales were also expected to decline by 0.5 percent mtm to 268.1 points, although increasing by 8.2 percent yoy. Household-appliances sales, meanwhile, fell by 0.2 percent mtm and 1.6 percent yoy to 100.2.
