Falling retail sales point to challenges facing economic recovery, says BCC

24th May 2013

Retail sales volumes for April 2013: -1.

3% on the month, +0.5% on the year Commenting on the retail sales figures for April 2013, published today by the ONS, David Kern, Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said: -The fall in retail sales volumes in April is disappointing, and worse than predicted. The figures confirm that although UK economic growth will likely remain positive, it will be lower than the 0.5% Q2 growth envisaged in last week's Bank of England Inflation Report. -The UK's economic background remains very challenging, and the scope for rebalancing output towards net exports is limited, given the particular difficulties facing the eurozone. This makes it doubly important to boost domestic demand as much as possible. To achieve this, we need lower inflation, but the government must play its part by implementing measures aimed at increasing growth through deregulation and improved access to finance for growing businesses.