Retail sales growing slower than expected

The volume of retail sales in Poland rose by 5.8 percent year-on-year and by 17.3 percent month-on-month in December 2013, statistics office GUS said on Friday. In real terms, retail trade grew by 5.9 percent y/y. Economists surveyed by the Polish Press Agency had expected retail sales to rise by 6.8 percent y/y and by 18.9 percent m/m in December. In an e-mailed comment, BZ WBK economists remarked that though the figure was below market expectations, it was still the highest since August 2012. “It is visible that consumer demand is gaining strength and this should be supportive for gradual hikes in the upcoming quarters,” they wrote. “All in all, the lower-than-we-expected data on retail sales and output in December lead to [a] slight downward revision of our Q4 GDP growth estimate to 2.5 percent but do not alter the overall pace of an economic revival in coming quarters,” the analysts added.