OREANDA-NEWS. The reported figure for retail sales turnover in September is slightly lower than the preceding month ($3.02 bln vs. $3.06 bln), and consumer sentiment, though remaining strong, has started to abate, Alfa Bank's report states.

Dynamics for savings in the form of deposits was also not encouraging last month (+3.1%), implying that some spending decisions were postponed in September. In particular, households bought some $400 mln more foreign currency than they sold, while money flows to the housing sector may have increased, according to the main domestic house indices. "Therefore, spending and retail sales could once again accelerate in October on mounting inflation expectations due to both further food price appreciation and government spending," offer their forecast the analysts of Alfa Bank.