Singapore's retail sales increased at a faster-than-expected pace in March, figures from the Department of Statistics revealed Friday.
Retail sales rose 2.1 percent year-over-year in March, reversing a 2.6 percent decline in February. Economists had expected only a 0.3 percent gain for the month.
Sales at petrol service stations surged 11.3 percent annually in March and sales of watches and jewellery climbed by 7.8 percent.
Sales of motor vehicles grew 6.9 percent in March from last year. Excluding the same, total sales went up by 0.7 percent.
On a monthly basis, retail sales dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent from February, when it rose by 2.5 percent. It was forecast to decrease by 1.2 percent.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com