Hardware sales are down a lot

[NewsWhore]

Hardware stores are reporting a sales drop of between 30% and 50% over the same period last year due to a slowdown in construction, possibly caused by price increases for steel and cement. According to Hoy newspaper, the sales figures were given out by one of the top executives of the Hardware Dealers Association, Luis Mejia, who said that 2007 had ended with good sales but 2008 was off to a very slow start. He mentioned a more expensive dollar and the fact that it is an election year, which requires "a little sensible restraint (on expenditure)". The directors of the association told Hoy reporters that the DR-CAFTA agreement had not made much of an impact on prices, since most of the imports come from China, and the DR does not have a trade agreement with that nation.

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