From:Xinhua

Macao's value of total retail sales amounted 9.15 billion patacas (1.14 U.S. dollars) in the first half of this year, a remarkably increase of 43 percent year-on-year, according to the figures Wednesday released by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

DSEC information indicated that the value of retail sales for the second quarter of this year rose by 40 percent from the same period of last year to 4.6 billion patacas (575 million dollars), with retail sales of watches, clocks and jewelry took the largest share of 19 percent of the total.

However, about 44 percent of the retailers reported decrease in the sales volume in the period from the first quarter, while about61 percent reported that retail prices remained stable, said the DSEC.

Regarding the business prospect for the third quarter of this year, about 60 percent expected the sales volume to increase or remain stable, compared with the second quarter, whereas about 80 percent expected the retail prices to remain stable or increase.

Source: English Site of Department of Information Technology