year, according to retail figures released yesterday.

But Finance officials are keeping a close watch on Bermuda's booming economy -- to make sure it doesn't overheat.

Finance Minister Dr. Grant Gibbons revealed last night that senior civil servants were keeping a close eye on economic indicators, to check for early warning signs of a rise in inflation.

But he said the increasing sales figures were "excellent news''.

And he added that a broad spectrum of Bermudian businesses were benefiting from a boom in consumer confidence.

Latest statistics showed retail sales in June increased by 6.6 percent over the same month last year. It is the 12th consecutive month that sales figures have shown a year-on-year increase.

Bermuda's retail outlets did more than $50 million worth of business in the month.

And even after adjusting for inflation, the volume of sales jumped by 4.6 percent on June 1997.

Dr. Gibbons said: "It's excellent news and consistently good news in terms of sales increases.

"It should indicate that retailers are really working to improve their competitiveness and it seems to be paying off.

"It is a positive indication but it is difficult to generalise because we are talking about different types of retail businesses here. The figures take in everything from groceries to wines and spirits, general merchandise to cars.

"Most of the categories are up to a reasonable degree in terms of real sales.

There's also an awful lot of money being spent in construction and by international business.'' But Dr. Gibbons warned the consumer boom could cause rising prices if it continued at a higher rate.

"We haven't seen any sign of an increase in inflation so far,'' he said.

"There have been mild concerns expressed in the US recently about how economic indicators show possible increases in inflation.

"But we have larger concerns about confidence in global financial markets and if they continue to look a little shaky, that could certainly translate into difficulties down the road.

"It is too early to make predictions, but we are keeping a close watch on our economic indicators.'' Motor trade and service station sales jumped 13.5 percent. And sales of alcohol, which had been on the slide, increased 9.8 percent in June -- the biggest rise since August 1994.

Food sales rose 5.4 percent and sales in general stores increased 5.1. Figures also showed Bermudians spent $2.1 million abroad, a 16 percent increase over the $1.81 million recorded in 1997.