Indonesian retail sales fall at a faster pace in February

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Retail sales in Indonesia fell 18.1% in February from the same month a year earlier, accelerating from a 16.4% on-year decline in January, showed a central bank survey on Monday.

Slowing sales of food, beverages and tobacco amid the COVID-19 pandemic were mainly behind the decline, it said.

The bank forecast a 17.1% contraction in March.

(Reporting by Tabita Diela and Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Christopher Cushing)