Retail sales in Latvia remained unchanged on a monthly basis in June after seasonal adjustments,data from the Central Statistical Bureau showed Friday. This follows 0.2% growth in May.

Sales of food products fell 0.7% month-on-month, whereas trade in non-food articles increased 0.4%. Year-on-year, total sales continued to fall in June, declining a working day-adjusted 3.1%, slower than 7.2% drop in the previous month.

During the month, sales in food products slipped 7% annually, while sales in non-food products recorded a modest 0.8% fall. In the second quarter, retail trade grew a seasonally adjusted 1.7% quarter-on-quarter. Sales turnover of enterprises trading in non-food products rose 3.4% on a quarterly basis, while that of firms selling chiefly food products, declined 1.4%.

Compared to the second quarter of last year, retail sales dropped a working day-adjusted 6% during the three-month period. Retail trade of food products decreased 8.9% year-on-year in the second quarter, while trade in non-food articles dropped 4.4%.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund approved $135.6 million loan to Latvia, after the government's fiscal and financial reforms stabilized the country's economy. The economy contracted 6% year-on-year in the first quarter, much slower than the 16.8% decline in the final quarter. However, decline is still the worst among the Baltic nations.

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