Analysts: growth in retail sales is lower than expected

The slower than expected retail sales of May surprised the analysts. Most of them expect further downturns in the second half of the year, compared to what they saw in the first months of the year.

According to data released by the Central Statistical Office on Thursday: in May, retail trade turnover was 3.0 percent higher than a year before, while calendar effect adjusted it was 2.6 percent. In the first five months of 2019, traffic increased by 5.8 percent according to calendar-adjusted data.