The country’s total retail sales and services revenue reached 1,267.9 trillion VND (56.7 billion USD) in the first four months of this year, a year on year increase of 6.7 percent.

Investors from the Hanoi Department of Animal Health check the production chain at the Vinh Anh Food Jsc in ​Hanoi 

The growth rate was lower than the growth rate of 7.8 percent in the first four months of 2016, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported.

GSO’s domestic trade expert Vu Manh Ha said purchasing power of the people decreased in the first four months, making growth rate of total retail sales and services revenue in this period lower than the growth rate in the same period of 2016.

Meanwhile, the average consumer price index (CPI) growth rate for the first four months of this year at 4.8 percent was higher than the rate of 1.48 percent for the correspondent time of 2016. That was one of the reasons for lower growth rate in total retail sales and services revenue during the four-month period.

However, reduction in purchasing power did not affect the retail sector. Retail sales and services revenue of this sector gained a year-on-year increase of 9.7 percent to 955.8 trillion VND.

Revenue of accommodation and catering services in the first four months surged 11.3 percent year-on-year to 153.4 trillion VND.

Revenue of the tourism and travel sector, accounting for 0.8 percent of total revenue, had the lowest growth rate at 6.3 percent year-on-year in the first four months of 2017.

VNA