Consumer confidence holds firm

Consumers are maintaining spending patterns

Consumer confidence in Scotland is holding firm despite last month's terrorist attacks on the US, according to the latest retail survey.

Retail sales rose at an annual rate of 6.7% last month, up 0.3% on August's rate with food sales one of the strongest sectors.

The findings are contained in the Scottish Retail Sales Monitor carried out by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBoS) and the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC).

Despite the positive indications, Scotland's consumer economy still falls behind the rest of the UK, where the average monthly increase stands at 8.1%.

Sales have continued to climb

Patrick Browne, SRC director, said: "Indications are that the terrorist attacks did not irreparably damage consumer spending.

"Consumers began to pry themselves away from their televisions and returned to the stores by the weekend following the attacks.

"Meanwhile, the increase in total sales growth was the largest in over a year, proving that Scottish consumers are still willing to spend as confidence remains stable."

Donald Workman, director of corporate and commercial banking at RBoS said: "Scottish consumers have been motivated to continue spending by a combination of recent rate cuts and assertive pricing.

"Food sales grew at a particularly healthy level, increasing at their fastest pace in three months."

In August, the same survey showed a total rise of 6.2% in year-on-year sales north of the border.

But Lucy O'Carroll, an economist at RBoS, said there was a danger that soaring consumer spending could cause problem if a recession hits at some point before the end of the year.