Brazil retail sales jump 0.6pc in September vs August

RIO DE JANEIRO: Retail sales in Brazil rose more than expected in September, underscoring brisk domestic demand in Latin America's largest economy even as inflation pressures continue to worry policymakers.

Retail sales volumes gained 0.6 percent in September from August, the government statistics agency IBGE said on Thursday, more than the 0.4 percent expected in a Reuters poll of 14 economists. The surge in September retail sales more than erased the 0.4 percent fall in retail sales in August from July.

Retail sales boomed in 2010 as Brazilian shoppers helped the economy grow 7.5 percent, its fastest pace in 24 years. But those same shopping sprees helped push prices higher.

The benchmark inflation rate closed 2010 at a six-year high and has gained since then, breaching a 6.5 percent target ceiling in April.

After hiking interest rates at the start of the year, the central bank has now cut a full point from its Selic interest rate to 11.5 percent since August as a euro zone debt crisis and fragile US recovery stoke worries of a slower world economy.

September's retail sales jumped 5.3 percent from the year-earlier period, the IBGE added, more than the 4.9 percent median estimate in the Reuters poll.

The IBGE also added that nominal sales, as measured by total receipts and unadjusted for inflation, advanced 1.1 percent in September from the previous month and surged 11.1 percent from a year earlier.

Retail sales volumes, unlike total receipts via cash or credit cards, exclude inflation which could distort comparisons.

Copyright Reuters, 2011