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October retail sales up

Johannesburg - South Africa's retail sales rose 3.4% year-on-year in October, above market expectations and compared with a 2.3% expansion in September.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales would increase by 2.0% compared with the same month last year.

On a month-on-month basis, sales were up 0.4%, and rose 2.6% in the three months to October compared with the same period in 2013.

The highest annual growth rates were recorded for retailers in food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (6.6); household furniture, appliances and equipment (4.6%) and hardware, paint and glass (4.3%).

"The main contributors to the 3.4% increase were general dealers (contributing 0.8 of a percentage point), retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (0.7 of a percentage point) and retailers in food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (0.6 of a percentage point)," Stats SA said in a statement.

Nedbank's group economic unit said further improvement in sales growth may be experienced over the next few months as the effects of the strikes wore off.

"However, the underlying trend in consumer spending is likely to remain subdued due to poor household finances and fragile consumer confidence. Recent indicators show early signs of recovery in the second half of the year, but the underlying conditions remain weak."

It said the inflation outlook had also improved in recent months with the upside risk to inflation about balanced.

The SA Reserve Bank's monetary policy committee was likely to keep interest rates on hold in the first half of 2015, it predicted.

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