This year´s consumption to be highest in four years

Retail sales in the Czech Republic are growing faster than in Hungary and Poland, the analysts noted.

In addition, the retail sector is confirming the role of a driving force of the domestic economic growth, they said.

According to data released by the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) today, Czech retail sales lowed their annual growth to 2.7 percent in August from 6.2 percent in July. In month-on-month terms, seasonally adjusted retail sales grew by 0.6 percent at constant prices.

"The willingness of households to spend money reflects high consumer confidence. Despite a moderate decline in the past two months, when the Ukrainian crisis caused slight uncertainty among consumers, the confidence is keeping at relatively high levels," Komercni banka's analyst Viktor Zeisel said.

According to Zeisel, consumer confidence is being supported by several factors, namely low inflation, which is reflected in the growth of real wages, the decreasing unemployment and the upcoming fiscal expansion, whose effect will show up mainly in 2015.

"The fact that sales of dispensable goods, such as footwear or sports equipment, are growing can be assessed positively. Since the end of last year, a key role has been played by sales of new cars. Until the end of this year I expect the annual growth of sales to continue staying in the black figures, though it will be far from as strong as in the first half of this year," analyst Miroslav Novak of the Akcenta said.

According to UniCredit Bank chief economist Pavel Sobisek, Czech consumers are willing to spend money and the retail sector thus confirms its role of a driving force of the domestic economic growth.

Komercni banka analysts expect retail sales to grow by 3.3 percent for the entire year, compared with 1.1 percent last year.

Zdroj: ČTK