Taipei, July 23, 2008 (CENS)--With consumers tightening their purse strings amid economic slowdown and mounting inflationary pressure, retail sales in Taiwan edged down 0.4% year-on-year to NT$268.8 billion in June, the first such decline since October 2006 when the twin-card debt storm was ravaging Taiwan, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

The hardest-hit sector was auto/motorcycle and parts sector, whose sales plunged 24.04% year-on-year in the month, the largest drop ...(Full Story)