Retail has best result for August in 10 years, says IBGE
10/15/2010 15h18
Retail has best result for August in 10 years, says IBGE
O Estado de S. Paulo
In August the retailhad the best results for the month verified by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) in 10 years. The sales of the sector increased 2% compared to July and 10.4% in case the basis for comparison is the same month of last year, in the greatest variations for the months of August of the historical series of the survey started in 2001. The good performance was driven by the activities of supermarkets and home appliances. For the technical coordination of services and commerce of the IBGE, Reinaldo Pereira, the good results of the retail in August were driven by the growth in the salary mass and the credit supply, besides the reduction in the price of some products because of the foreign exchange rate. "There is an increase in the income and employment, besides great credit offer. All those factors are very important for the retail", he said. Pereira highlighted the price stability and the role of the increase in the value of the Real in relation to the Dollar in reducing prices in segments of the retail such as supermarkets, computers, cell phones and home appliances. "The exchange rate adversely affects the exporters, but it favors the retailers that can carry out more promotional sales", he said.He exemplified that two activities with important weight on the survey - supermarkets and home appliances - that have driven the performance of the retail in August have their prices coupled to the Dollar exchange rate, because of the volume of imports. The retail sales in the segment of hyper, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco, which have greater weight (nearly 30%) in the IBGE survey, were alone responsible for 3.5 percent point, or 34% of the increase in the retail sales in August compared to the same month last year. The segment of food products registered sales increase of 1.2% in August compared to July and increase of 7.2% compared to a year ago. Pereira attributes the growth of the category to the drop in the food prices occurred in August, also because of the greater offer of imported goods on the shelves, and to the increase in the income of workers. The second main influence on the increase of the sales in the retail was caused by furniture and home appliances (2.7 percentage points). Such activity registered an increase in sales of 2.9% in August compared to July and high 16.7% compared to August 2009. According to Pereira, the segment is benefiting from the availability of credit, the falling prices of several items of durable consumer goods, and the foreign exchange rate in August.The result of August led the analyst of Tendências Consultoria, Alexandre Andrade, to review upwards the projection for the result of the retail in 2010, from 10.3% to 11.4%. "Such a review occurs because of the recent evolution of the major determinants of demand, such as the real salary mass and the credit, which should keep the favorable tendency in the coming months", he says.
