The Republic’s retail sales fell 3.6 per cent year on year in February, reversing the revised 4.7 per cent growth posted in the month before, data from the Department of Statistics (SingStat) showed on Friday (Apr 4).

Singstat attributed the decline to Chinese New Year being celebrated in January this year, as opposed to February last year.

February’s result was also below the estimates of private-sector economists, who had expected retail sales to dip 0.2 per cent year on year in a Bloomberg poll.