S. Africa Mar Retail Sales Growth Slows More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - South Africa's retail sales growth eased at a faster-than-expected pace in March to the lowest level in ten months, figures from Statistics South Africa showed Wednesday.

Retail sales climbed 2.8 percent year-over-year in March, slower than the 4.0 percent gain in the previous month. Economists had expected the growth to slow to 3.8 percent.

The latest rate of increase was the weakest since May 2015, when sales had risen 1.9 percent.

Annual sales growth of pharmaceuticals and medical goods, cosmetics and toiletries eased sharply to 0.3 percent in March from 7.8 percent in February. Sales at general dealers grew 6.0 percent, while sales of hardware, paint and glass fell by 5.1 percent.

On a monthly basis, retail sales edged up 0.2 percent in March, following a 0.4 percent rise in the preceding month. It was the second successive monthly increase.