Briefs | LRT train carriages delivered to depot

The second phase of the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) train carriages delivery work began yesterday, the Transportation Infrastructure Office announced in a statement. The delivery of a first batch of 10 train carriages is underway at the LRT Depot. Four train carriages were transported to the depot, with the remaining six being transported today. The delivery of the first phase of LRT train carriages was initiated in the fourth quarter last year. Currently, a total of 30 train carriages are stored at the LRT Taipa line stations.

Q1 sales benefit from CNY rush

Benefiting from the sales boom of the Lunar New Year, the value of retail sales for the first quarter of 2018 increased by 25.7 percent year-on-year to MOP20.74 billion. As compared with the revised figure of MOP19.08 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017, the value of retail sales rose by 8.7 percent.  According to information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), after accounting for the effect of price changes, volume of retail sales increased by 23 percent year-on-year. In the first quarter, watches, clocks and jewelry accounted for 21.1 percent of total retail sales, followed by goods in department stores (16 percent) and adults’ clothing (14.1 percent). In regards to retailers’ comments, 56.7 percent of the retailers anticipated the sales volume in the second quarter of 2018 to remain stable year-on-year, while 28.6 percent forecast a decrease.