Rio, February 18, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Even though the results were better on paper than in January, 2003, retail earnings in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area this January suffered a real decline of 2.1%, compared with the first month of last year.

This finding comes from the study "The Opinion of Merchants in Goods, Services, and Tourism," coordinated by the State of Rio de Janeiro Commercial Federation (Fecomércio).

Despite its being negative, the result indicates that the commercial sector is starting to recover; in January, 2003, the decline was even more pronounced, 7.96% in relation to January, 2002.

For the president of the Fecomércio, Orlando Diniz, "this picture reflects the country's economic situation and indicates that the recovery is taking place unevenly. The policy of reducing annual interest rates, which have fallen ten percent since June to their current 16.5% level, has produced results, with the sectors that are most dependent upon credit leading the resumption of growth. In addition, the government launched special credit lines for some sectors and the micro-credit program, expanding these sectors' sales capacity."

Diniz points out, however, that "January's results show that this by itself is not enough to guarantee the sector's growth. Workers' incomes remain compromised, down over 4% over the last 12 months, causing disappointing performances in the sectors most closely linked to this variable."

For this very reason the sector hopes that, as well as returning to the trajectory of reducing interest rates, the government will develop policies aimed at generating income for workers, so that the commercial sector can achieve a more robust and balanced performance." Diniz explains.

The study covered 1,309 commercial establishments in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area, in 26 branches of activity, including supermarkets, butcher shops, opticians, construction material, clothing, footware, and pharmacies. (DAS)