Australian Business Confidence Strengthening

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
        )

)

By Chris Shaw

Three interest rate increases last year were enough to dent business confidence throughout Australia, but the National Australia Bank’s latest survey shows confidence levels are now rebounding.

Jeff Outen, head of Australian economics for the bank, notes the confidence index is up 6-10 points for the June quarter, putting the index back at levels of a year ago, which is well above its historical average.

Outen points out confidence has increased across the entire business spectrum, but the gains are greater in the small-to-medium (SME) sized business sector of the market and in particular those businesses with turnover of $1-2m annually. While a little lower in SMEs with turnover up to $10m, it remains higher in this sector than for large businesses.

Sectors where confidence is particularly high among the SMEs include residential construction, property services and financial services, while the bank notes among larger companies confidence is strongest among the energy utilities and construction sectors.

Click to view our Glossary of Financial Terms