Australian consumer confidence plunges to worst level since 1990s after RBA rate rise
Source: The Guardian ·
Key indicator dropped about 20% after the Reserve Bank last month announced the highest interest rates since 2011Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralian households are the most persistently pessimistic they have been since the early-1990s recession, after a fourth rate rise this year.Confidence among Australian consumers has plunged about 20% since the Reserve Bank…
From the source
Australian households are the most persistently pessimistic they have been since the early-1990s recession, after a fourth rate rise this year. Confidence among Australian consumers has plunged about 20% since the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted interest rates to the highest levels since 2011, according to the Westpac–Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index. The survey, conducted between 28 September and 1 October, showed the confidence index dropped by 4.7% to 80.4% in October – the worst level since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict in early April. But for respondents surveyed after the RBA call on 29 September, the index dropped to 67.2% – the lowest level since the late 1990s. That was broadly in line with the weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer survey, which fell about 5% to 67.1 points. Westpac’s head of Australian macro-forecasting, Matthew Hassan, said sentiment had been extremely weak for the longest period since the “disastrous” recession of the early 1990s.…