The retail sector is bracing for a slowdown this year, industry representatives and analysts said yesterday as the government announced a 4.2 per cent rise in retail sales for November.
The value of retail sales in November topped $15.8 billion, a year-on-year rise of 4.2 per cent but down from the 4.8 per cent increase recorded in October.
For the first 11 months of last year, retail sales rose 6.8 per cent, a pace that would not be sustained, experts cautioned.
Hong Kong Retail Management Association chairman Bankee Kwan Pak-hoo expects overall retail sales growth for this year will not exceed 5 per cent.
Mr Kwan warned against over-estimating the impact of the widening of the individual visitor scheme to more mainland cities later this year, saying that spending by such visitors would only serve to sustain the retail sector, rather than propel it to new heights.
'[But] local consumption of all types, including those of specialities, will experience good positive growth in 2006,' he said.
David O'Rear, chief economist of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, said the slowdown in retail sales, which began in the third quarter of last year, was normal after 18 months of strong growth.
