Retail turnover accelerated on an annual basis, but fell compared to February – sector outlook

However, Monitorblog expects that the introduction of the retail margin cap on March 17 will cause a resurgence in turnover after the weaker February and the first week or two of March, meaning that from the perspective of the growing trend, the February data looks like a one-off negative correction. At the same time, the government promises announced at the end of February and the margin cap system have not yet had an impact on consumer confidence, as consumers were still in high uncertainty in March, which is further strengthened by the high – albeit slightly decreasing – food inflation and the weakening forint exchange rate. According to the confidence indices, trade is no longer the most pessimistic sector, but consumer confidence still stagnated in March. The inflationary effects of the margin cap may appear in the next data release, the March data, which will be released tomorrow.