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mpc: 15 Growth in private consumption seemed likely to have continued in Q3 at around the same pace as Q2. Retail sales had increased strongly in September and were estimated to have risen by 1.1% in Q3, which remained a robust rate of growth even if below the levels of the first half of the year. In the CBI Distributive Trades Survey, retailers had reported a pickup in the annual growth of sales in October from September. But the Bank's Agents had reported that the increase in sales had been on the back of heavy discounting, which would be consistent with the continued weakness of the retail sales deflator. Consumer confidence remained weak but it had risen a little in October, with a small reported increase in the willingness of consumers to make a major purchase.