The month of March was one of stability for retail, according to IBGE

In the quarterly moving average, growth was 1.2%, according to the IBGE’s Monthly Commerce Survey (PMC), released this Wednesday (8).

Economist Francisco Rodrigues assesses that the scenario may indicate stagnation.

“There is a very high level of people’s indebtedness, coupled with a basic interest rate that is still very high by international standards, which has inhibited loans, inhibited investment and this certainly harms retail and commerce. Why? Because if the interest rate is very high, there will be less credit circulating in the economy”, he analyzes.

Activities

Among the eight retail activities surveyed, seven had negative results, with four considered stable — with a variation between 0% and -0.5%.

Only the pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles category had a positive result, with an increase of 1.4% — a sector that had already been growing, especially between January and February, when it registered an increase of 9.7%.

The most significant negative result came from office and IT and communication supplies, with a drop of 8.7%, as explained by IBGE research manager, Cristiano Santos.

“This is a sector that has its trajectory linked to the dollar. So, there is an appreciation of the dollar in the month of March and this appreciation of the dollar in the month of March also reduces the pressures, the demands for consumption, mainly IT equipment, computers, etc., which are often imported”, comments.

The second biggest drop in March was in the furniture and household appliances sector (-2.4%), which had been recording positive results in recent months.

A The expectation is that with the commemorative datesthe numbers will grow again in the coming months.

States

The survey also shows the results by state. In 16 of the 27 federative units the numbers were positive, with emphasis on: Sergipe (3.7%), Bahia (3.1%) and Rio Grande do Sul (2.1%). The worst results came from Mato Grosso (-11.2%), Pará (-2.6%) and Tocantins (-1.4%).

In expanded retail trade, which includes, in addition to retail, the activities of vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces, construction materials and wholesale of food products, beverages and tobacco, there was a reduction of 0.3% between February and March. Compared to March 2023, the decline was 1.5%.

The construction material segment fell by 9.4% and the wholesale sector specializing in food, beverages and tobacco products fell by 23%. Sales of vehicles and motorcycles, parts and pieces grew 1.8%.