Retail sales in China slumped in July for the seventh consecutive month, as reluctance among households to spend on goods and services casts doubt over the country’s economic recovery, reported the Financial Times.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast that July retail sales would edge higher for the first time this year. But government data showed a 1.1% fall for the month compared with the same month a year earlier.
“It’s quite indicative for other economies which are reopening the economy much later than China,” said Qu Hongbin, co-head of Asia economic research at HSBC. “Clearly it probably takes much longer . . . than most people expect to see a recovery in consumption.”
“The rebound has been highly uneven,” Qu said. “Supply side production has been rebounding faster than the demand side”.
You must log in to post a comment.