EUROZONE-GREECE/RETAIL Capital controls, snap polls hit Greek retail sales - trade body

Record ID: 140553

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/RETAIL Capital controls, snap polls hit Greek retail sales - trade body
  • Date: 1st September 2015
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (SEPTEMBER 1, 2015) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WALKING ALONG SQUARE PEOPLE WAITING AT TRAFFIC LIGHTS TO CROSS STREET PEOPLE WALKING PAST CLOSED SHOPS AT MAIN SHOPPING PEDESTRIAN STREET IN CITY CENTRE VARIOUS OF CLOSED SHOP HELLENIC CONFEDERATION OF COMMERCE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP PRESIDENT, VASSILIS KORKIDIS, WALKING TO HIS DESK AND SITTING KORKIDIS AT HIS DESK (SOUNDBITE) (English) HELLENIC CONFEDERATION OF COMMERCE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP PRESIDENT, VASSILIS KORKIDIS, SAYING: "The situation in the market is catastrophic. The three months during the summer period well actually had the result of a huge decrease between 30 and 45 percent in most of the consumable goods. Therefore this damage and this situation is difficult to be restored by the end of the year." PEOPLE WALKING PAST CLOSED SHOP AT SHOPPING STREET VARIOUS OF CLOSED STORE WITH GRAFFITI ON ITS WINDOW (SOUNDBITE) (English) HELLENIC CONFEDERATION OF COMMERCE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP PRESIDENT, VASSILIS KORKIDIS, SAYING: "We had a combination of events during the last couple of months which caused all this damage to the market. We started with the referendum, we continued with closed banks, we had the capital controls, then we had a new memorandum and now we have the pre-election period. All these five factors is the worst combination for the Greek market." PEOPLE WALKING PAST ANOTHER CLOSED SHOP WITH ITS SHUTTERS DOWN VARIOUS OF CLOSED SHOP IN SHOPPING STREET (SOUNDBITE) (English) HELLENIC CONFEDERATION OF COMMERCE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP PRESIDENT, VASSILIS KORKIDIS, SAYING: "Let's hope that after the 20th of September we have a political stability in order to have an economic environment that will help us to fight back." VARIOUS OF A SHOP WINDOW ADVERTISING SALES UP TO 70 PERCENT EXTERIOR OF JEWELRY STORE VARIOUS OF WOMAN LOOKING AT JEWELRY DISPLAYED ON SHOP WINDOW VARIOUS OF JEWELRY STORE OWNER, EDDIE KALFAYAN, WITH HIS SON INSIDE THE STORE (SOUNDBITE)(Greek) JEWELRY STORE OWNER, EDDIE KALFAYAN, SAYING: "The way things were going this was expected. And with the upcoming elections it is expected that things will get even worse. Our only hope is that at some point a government will be elected, no matter what government this will be, that it will take measures and slowly regularity will be restored to the market. This is what all merchants hope for." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING ALONG PEDESTRIAN SHOPPING STREET
  • Embargoed: 16th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAB7MKV04M36FVFQ0HQQP25Y0CS
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Greek retail sales are expected to drop by 12.7 percent in the three months to August, as capital controls and a three-week bank closure hit consumer spending in the summer discount period, Greece's retailers association ESEE said on Monday (August 31).
    Retail sales by revenue are expected to have fallen to 9.2 billion euros ($10.3 billion) in the June-August period from 10.6 billion in the same period a year ago, ESEE said.
    The association forecast that retailers will not be able to make up for the drop in revenue this year after what they said was the worst summer sales season in recent years.
    "The situation in the market is catastrophic. The three months during the summer period well actually had the result of a huge decrease between 30 and 45 percent in most of the consumable goods. Therefore this damage and this situation is difficult to be restored by the end of the year," said the head of the association, Vassilis Korkidis, on Tuesday (September 1).
    Summer discounts from July 15 to the end of August failed to lure shoppers whose confidence and ability to buy was hit by capital controls imposed on June 29 and uncertainty after the government called snap elections for next month, it said.
    "We had a combination of events during the last couple of months which caused all this damage to the market. We started with the referendum, we continued with closed banks, we had the capital controls, then we had a new memorandum and now we have the pre-election period. All these five factors is the worst combination for the Greek market," said Korkidis, adding: "Let's hope that after the 20th of September we have a political stability in order to have an economic environment that will help us to fight back."
    Former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras opted for snap polls, aiming to consolidate his grip over his leftist Syriza party which struggled with deep divisions after signing an 86-billion-euro bailout with the country's international lenders.
    Retail sales are seen down by 1.1 billion euros in July and August compared to the same period last year, although demand for food and fuel is expected to have surged in July as people stocked up on basic goods fearing shortages. Sales of other goods, such as clothing and footwear, nosedived, ESEE said.
    Businessman, Eddie Kalfayan, who owns a jewelry store in central Athens, said he is barely making ends meet.
    "The way things were going this was expected. And with the upcoming elections it is expected that things will get even worse. Our only hope is that at some point a government will be elected, no matter what government this will be, that it will take measures and slowly regularity will be restored to the market. This is what all merchants hope for," said Kalfayan.
    The latest official figures on retail sales were for June and showed retail sales by revenue slipped 1.7 percent in June compared with the same month in 2014.
    Gross domestic product data released last week showed resilience in Greek consumer spending, which rose 1.1 percent in the second quarter and helped the economy expand by 0.9 percent.
    Hit by the country's economic slump and record unemployment, retail sales declined by about 40 percent over 2009-2014 due to austerity policies imposed under the terms of Greece's 240-billion-euro European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout.
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