São Paulo - For the ninth consecutive month, retail sales in the metropolitan region of São Paulo were down in January - 0.79%, compared to January 2003.

The president of the city Commercial Federation, Abram Szajman, says that numbers dash hopes for renewed economic growth. He says that unemployment, negative GDP growth and interest rates that stopped falling were to blame. He adds that the tendency now is for lower expectations with regard to the future.

However, the Commercial Federation's economic bureau says the drop in January was the lowest since May and not really bad for January. Sales did get a boost from lower interest rates in the second half of 2003. But the halt in the interest rate drop is now seen as a factor that will slow down the recovery of sales. (AB)