JAKARTA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Retail sales in Indonesia expanded at a faster pace in November as sales of food, beverages and vehicle fuels grew.
A survey by the Indonesian central bank, Bank Indonesia, revealed on Wednesday that the retail sales accelerated 2.5 percent in November from a year ago.
In October, retail sales grew 2.2 percent year-on-year due to rising sales of foods and tobacco.
For December, 700 surveyed retailers in 10 major cities across the archipelagic nation expected retail sales to improve.
They forecast the sales will increase 2.6 percent from a year ago as sales of foods, beverage and tobacco will also grow.
The retailers believe price pressure will be down in February but rise in May, prior to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan.
Demand of foods and clothes generally rises in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation, ahead of Ramadhan followed by Islamic festivity. Cost of transport is also regularly up before and after the festival as tens of thousands Muslims return home from cities to celebrate the event.
The Indonesian government has been attempting to generate people's purchasing power in a bid to boost consumption, the major contributor to the economic growth. One of the policies is to keep price of electricity and fuel stable in the first quarter.
