FX.co ★ Romania Retail Sales Growth Slows For Second Month

Romania's retail sales slowed for a second month in a row in March, yet remained strong underpinned by robust sales of the non-food products, figures from the National Institute of Statistics showed on Wednesday.

Retail sales increased by a working-day adjusted 5.5 percent year-on-year in March, after an 8.8 percent rise in February.

The pace of growth has slowed since hitting a peak of 9.7 percent in January.

Sales of automotive fuels in specialized stores grew 3.1 percent yearly in March. Sales of non-food products increased 8.2 percent and those of food, beverages and tobacco gained 4.7 percent.

On a monthly basis, retail sales increased 0.4 percent in March, after a 0.6 percent rise in February. Sales grew for a second straight month. Automotive fuel sales decreased 7.2 percent.

On an unadjusted basis, retail sales grew 5.5 percent annually in March and climbed 13.3 percent from the prior month.