Greek retail sales rise for fifth month in a row in October
ATHENS, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Greek retail sales by volume rose 3.7 percent in October compared to the same month last year, after a 2.2 percent increase in September, statistics service ELSTAT said on Wednesday.
Sales volumes rose for the fifth month in a row, pointing to strengthening consumer spending in the fourth quarter as the economy recovers from a protracted recession.
Greece emerged from a crippling six-year economic slump as early as the start of the year and has been growing ever since, data showed last month.
Greece's international lenders, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, expect the economy to post a modest recovery in 2014 after six years of deep contraction. National output is projected to grow 0.6 percent, driven by tourism, investment and exports.
Hit by the country's deep economic slump and record unemployment, retail sales declined by about 40 percent in 2009-2013, driven by austerity policies imposed under the terms of Greece's 240-billion-euro EU/IMF bailout. *********************************************************** KEY FIGURES OCT SEP AUG JULY JUNE MAY Retail Sales* by +3.7 +2.2 +7.3 +4.7 +3.9 -3.7 volume y/y Retail Sales* by +0.5 -0.9 +4.4 +1.5 +0.4 -8.3 revenue y/y ---------------------------------------------------------- * Includes fuels and auto lubricants source: ELSTAT (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos, editing by Angeliki Koutantou)
