Last week’s real retail sales data reveals the first annual contraction in retail sales in eight years. While overall household demand may still have grown by around 2.3% last year, the outlook for 2009 remains dismal, according to a Standard Bank report. “Serving to confirm our 0.4% contraction expected in total household consumption expenditure this year, the national budget last week provided a similar outlook of -0.2% this year,” a spokesman said.
