Romania’s retail sales dropped in March from a year ago, figures from the National Institute of Statistics showed Tuesday.

Retail sales, excluding automobile trade fell a working-day-and-seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent annually in March, in contrast to a 3.2 percent climb in February.

Sales in stores selling mainly non-food products declined 3.8 percent in March, while stores selling food products, beverages and tobacco grew by 8.6 percent.

On a monthly basis, retail sales slid 1.6 percent in March, slightly slower than previous month’s 1.7 percent decrease. It was the second consecutive monthly fall.

In the first quarter of this year, total retail sales advanced 3.0 percent from a year earlier.

The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com