Following accelerated growth on the annual level in May, retail trade in June continued to grow at high rates and in relation to June last year it increased by 10.8 percent in nominal terms and by 7.3 percent in real terms (the nominal increase in May was 9.8 percent and the real increase was 6.6 percent).
Retail trade in the first six months grew nominally 6.6 percent and 3.2 percent in real terms from the first six months of last year.
According to commercial branches, the increase in retail trade in June could be attributed again to the growth of sale of motor vehicles and oil and lubricants, as well as to the growth of retail trade in grocery stores.
After a slowdown at the beginning of this year, retail trade has been on the increase over the last fourth months and analysts believe this trend will continue because of the tourist season and the projected continued growth of household loans.