Malaysia's annual retail sales data for July 2022 grew 37.7% but slightly decreased from 38.4% in the previous month.
According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the record marks an increase for 10 consecutive months after the recovery of Covid-19 restrictions had an impact on consumers.
On a monthly basis, retail trade was seen to increase by 0.7% in July compared to 0.4% in June.
The overall details of the data are as follows:
Non-specialty store sales rose 39.1% compared to 38.4%.
Specialty store sales increased 47.1% compared to 44.3%.
Sales of other household appliances increased by 28.8% compared to 28.5%.
Wholesale sales reached 20.6% compared to 19.3%.
Sales of motor vehicles fell 613.8% compared to 1,642.8%.
In the meantime, the strengthening of the retail sales data indicates that the country's economy is growing well, so it can also provide an opportunity for the country's overnight rate (OPR) to increase.
Please be reminded that the national OPR was raised to 2.5% on September 8 after Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) set the projection of 25 basis points.
This situation is similar to the situation in the United States (US), where strong economic data behind peak inflation allowed the Federal Reserve (Fed) to raise interest rates.
Most recently, Chairman Jerome Powell firmly expressed a hawkish tone for a 75 basis point interest rate hike.
