retail sales of Brazil They pummeled market estimates in March, growing above the highest forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists, data from government statistics agency IBGE showed on Wednesday.
Retail sales rose 0.8% in the month compared to February, well beating the consensus for a 0.8% drop in a Reuters poll of 13 economists, which had a 0.2% gain as the maximum expectation.
“This monthly increase means that sales have left their stability in February to a result that we can now consider growth,” said research director Cristiano Santos, noting that the result was driven by higher sales of office supplies and pharmaceuticals.
Sales in Latin America’s largest economy also rose 3.2% in March on an annual basis, well above an expected 0.1% decline and fueling a 2.4% jump in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier.
The highest response in the Reuters poll for the annual data stood at an increase of 1.9%.
“If we look at the first three months as a whole, we see a jump of 4.5% compared to December of last year, when retail sales last fell,” Santos said, after the statistical agency revised its February figure up to 0.0% from the previously reported 0.1% drop.
Source: Reuters
Source: Gestion
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