Greek retail sales rise 3.8 percent year on year in June

Greek retail sales by volume rose 3.8 percent in June compared to the same month last year, after a downwardly revised 3.6 percent drop in May, statistics service ELSTAT said on Friday.

Greece's international lenders, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, expect private consumption to remain weak this year, despite an expected economic recovery of 0.6 percent, which is seen driven by tourism, investment and exports.

The country's leading economic think tank sees household consumption growing by 1 percent this year, helped by hirings during Greece's bumper summer tourism season.

Hit by the country's deep recession and record unemployment, retail sales declined by about 40 percent in 2009-2013 as a result of austerity policies imposed under the terms of Greece's 240 billion euro bailout by the EU and the IMF.

[Reuters]