Beirut retail sales plunge 14.4% in Q1

(MENAFN) Retail sales fell 14.40 percent in the first quarter of 2013, the results of the Beirut Traders Association-Fransabank Retail Index showed. "While the nominal figure for the first quarter of this year posts a decrease of about 3.7 percent in comparison with the first quarter of 2012, the real figure shows an acute fall that stands at minus 14.4 percent," a joint statement said. The Beirut Traders Association estimated the consumer price index was 11 percent higher in the first quarter of 2013 then the same quarter last year. The country's strained politics remain the major reason behind the decline in retail activity, the report said.