On Wednesday, Deputy State Secretary for Priority Corporate Relations Zoltán Marczinkó told public television channel M1 that the volume of retail sales has been on the rise for 36 consecutive months; over the past one year – with the exception of January – its growth rate was at 4-5 per cent year on year.

The reason for the 5.7 per cent increase in June is that the number of those employed has recently increased, the rate of personal income tax has been lowered and the average gross salary has become higher. The low rate of inflation is also reflected in real wages, people have more money, thus they can increase their consumption, Mr. Marczinkó explained.

Commenting on the Central Statistical Office’s data on retail sales published on Wednesday, the Deputy State Secretary stressed that the volume of sales was up in the food and non-food sector, as well as in the fuel sector.

Mr. Marczinkó pointed out that the increase in food sales amounted to 3-4 per cent, in the non-food category – which also includes mail orders – to some 10 per cent and in the volume of fuel sales to 3.6 per cent. He noted that the increase in the volume of fuel sales was realised with the help of a 10 per cent drop in fuel prices.

(MTI, kormány.hu)