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The NBK’s consumer spending index in July declined 6.5 percent year-on-year, despite strong growth on a monthly basis. In contrast, the rate of consumption expenditures on non-durable goods increased, but remained close to the level recorded last year, as for the performance of the index since the beginning of the year, it fell by 1 percent.
Consumption expenditures on durable goods was steady in July, with the annual growth rate declining from 10.8% in June to 7.3% in July, as the sector continued to be affected by lower seasonal demand during summer. Sales of automobiles, furniture, and luxury accessories, dropped while spending on electronic devices rose.
However, expenditures on service consumption rose slightly on a monthly basis, supported by increased spending on travel, but growth slowed down to 10.4 percent year-on-year.
Despite the fact that expenditures on non-durable goods consumption witnessed the strongest monthly recovery during the year, the annual growth was weak, dropping to 0.3% for the first time since December, whereas the expenditure rate is expected to continue to grow during 2018, albeit at a lower pace than expected.

Source: (Al Khaleej newspaper, Edited)