Macao Reports Stable Retail SalesMacao's aggregate retail sales volume reached 1.17 billion patacas (146.25 million US dollars) in the first quarter of this year, inching up 1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2000, according to the latest official statistics.The sales of miscellaneous products constituted 13 percent of the total, and that of vehicles, commodities in supermarkets, timepieces, jewelry and gas was also robust, figures released by the Statistics and Census Services of the Special Administrative Region government show. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in April rose 0.11 percent from that of March to 98.07 points, which shows a trend toward the end of deflation in Macao, the source said Tuesday. About 60 percent of the retail salesmen surveyed by the Statistics and Census Services predict that the commodity sales will increase slightly or remain stable in the second quarter of this year, while nearly 70 percent of them believe that the goods price will be stable or up. Macao's economy is recovering. Its gross domestic product (GDP) went up 4.6 percent last year following negative increases in four straight years. |
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