JAKARTA, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Retail sales in Indonesia edged up in July as demand crept up at the commencement of new academic year for schools, a survey carried out by the central bank showed on Monday.

The retail sales rose 2.9 percent in July year-on-year, coming in above a 2.3-percent growth in the previous month.

The hike was largely driven by sales of clothes and automotive fuels.

Looking at August, the retail sales are estimated to edged off slightly 2.9 percent.

For October, the price pressures are forecast to strengthen in the month.

The acceleration of the retail sales in July was in line with the ticking up of the people's purchasing power indicated by the data of core inflation rate, unveiled by the national statistics bureau, in the month coming in at 2.87 percent, from 2.72 percent in June.

The central bank has revised its estimate of this year's inflation target to 3.5 percent from its preceding projection of 2.5 to 4.5 percent.

The government has lowered economic growth projection to the range of 5.17 to 5.4 percent from previous estimate of 5.4 percent following tightening policies.