Bank Indonesia Predicts Annual Increase in Retail Sales Performance for February 2023

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Bank Indonesia (BI), the central bank of Indonesia, has released its forecast for retail sales performance for February 2023. According to BI, the annual performance of retail sales is expected to increase.

This positive outlook is reflected in the Real Sales Index (IPR) for February 2023, which stands at 205.2, growing 2.6% year-on-year (yoy). This is a significant improvement from the previous month, which was in the contraction phase.

Fadjar Majardi, Director of the Communication Department at BI, revealed that the positive performance of retail sales was driven by the growth of the Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Group, as well as the Sub-Group of Clothing, which recorded a higher growth rate compared to the previous month.

“Monthly retail sales are predicted to show improvement despite still being in a contraction phase of 1.4% (mtm),” Majardi said in a press release on Thursday (9/3/2023).

In summary, BI predicts an increase in retail sales performance for February 2023, as reflected in the Real Sales Index (IPR) of 205.2, growing 2.6% year-on-year (yoy), and driven by the growth of the Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Group, as well as the Sub-Group of Clothing. Despite still being in a contraction phase of 1.4% (mtm), monthly retail sales are expected to show improvement.

meanwhile, as previously reported, according to a Consumer Survey conducted by Bank Indonesia in February 2023, consumer confidence in the country’s economic conditions remained strong.

The survey showed that the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) in February 2023 remained in the optimistic zone (>100) at a level of 122.4, which indicates that consumers are still positive about the economic outlook of the country.

Although the CCI has decreased slightly compared to the previous month’s figure of 123.0, it is still higher than the figure of 113.1 recorded in February 2022.

The report states that “the maintenance of consumer optimism in February 2023 was driven by the increase in the Current Economic Conditions Index (CECI), especially in the components of the Employment Availability Index and the Current Income Index.”

The CECI in February 2023 was recorded at 112.4, slightly higher than the figure of 112.1 recorded in the previous month. Meanwhile, consumers’ expectations for the future economic outlook of the country also remain in the optimistic zone, with a figure of 132.5.