RISING retail sales, up 9.3 percent year-on-year in May and accelerating from 8.6 percent in April, indicates that the Q2 household consumption growth could be even higher than in the first three months of this year, according to ING analyst Eduard Hagara.
These estimates are also supported by a rise in real wages in industry, improving from 1.5 percent in April to 4 percent in May, SITA wrote.
The reported estimates may support the potential for demand inflation risks, but so far anticipated, significant demand pressures have not been present in inflation, said Hagara.
According to data published by the Slovak Statistics Office, the growth of retail sales was supported by a growth of pharmaceutical products and cosmetics retail sales, at 22.7 percent; specialized retail sales, up by 16 percent; retail sales in non-specialized outlets improving by 10.4 percent; and food, drink and tobacco retail sales, which were up by 7.3 percent.