The expectation of upcoming hikes in interest rates has caused confidence to fall significantly among households having a mortgage in recent months. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index dropped 0.9 percent to 95.8 points in April, reaching the lowest level since September 2020, when fears of the COVID-19 pandemic were dominating. An index below 100…
Risk of Interest Rate Rises Intensifies Worries Among Mortgage Holders
Australian Economic Outlook Overshadowed by Inflation and Default Risk: Report
Credit reporting agency CreditorWatch has warned that increased insolvency risks will remain in the Australian economy in the short to medium term despite the recovery of business activity from the COVID-19 pandemic. In its business risk report for March 2022, CreditorWatch found that court actions reached their highest level since March 2021 and trade payment…
Reserve Bank of Australia Hints at Higher Inflation and Interest Rate
April 7, 2022
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The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is starting to closely monitor the country’s current state of inflation to plan for its next course of action while warning the public of higher price pressures in the coming months. At its monthly board meeting on April 5, the central bank decided to maintain the official cash rate…
Demand for Australian Workers Remains Strong, but Real Wage Growth Falling: RBA Head
March 23, 2022
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Persistent high levels of demand for workers in Australia has put pressure on wages to rise, but Australians will still be taking a pay cut in real wages. The National Skills Commission revealed that job advertisements rose by 3.6 percent, or 9,300, in February to a total of 269,700. It was driven by New South…
Supply Chain Pressures Affect Australian Manufacturers Steady Recovery
March 15, 2022
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While Australian manufacturing has bounced back due to easing COVID-19 restrictions, the recovery faces another major hurdle, labour and material shortages on a scale not seen in almost 50 years. An Australian Chamber Of Commerce And Industry (ACCI)—Westpac survey (pdf) revealed that business conditions modestly improved in the early stages of 2022 despite supply chain…
Global Response by Central Banks to Ukraine Crisis Not Required: Head of Australian Reserve Bank
March 13, 2022
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The governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), Phillip Lowe, doesn’t believe a global coordinated financial response to the Ukraine conflict is required. Lowe said that while central banks worked closely together during the Global Financial Crisis, the current situation was entirely different. “[They worked together in the GFC] because financial markets had frozen…
Unusual Level of Government Support Is Starting to End: Treasury
February 16, 2022
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Australia’s Treasury Secretary, Steven Kennedy, said early steps have been taken towards the normalisation of economic policies, but it was important to gradually reduce economic support to avoid any negative ramifications. In his opening statement to the Senate Economics Committee, Kennedy said the sensible tapering of government support was important to achieving the goal of…
Australian Consumers Optimistic Despite Rising Fuel Prices
Australians are feeling increasingly optimistic as the Omicron peak passes and international borders are set to reopen. The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index increased by 3.3 percent during the second week of February, the highest weekly gain since early April 2021. “The passing of the Omicron peak along with the news that international borders will…
Omicron Inflicts Uncertainty on Australian Jobs Data for January
Economists are feeling a degree of uncertainty over key workforce data for January as the unknown impacts of the Omicron COVID-19 variant outbreak hit economic indicators. The jobs market has been bouncing back robustly after the 2021 Delta variant lockdowns ended, causing the jobless rate to slump to a 13-year low of 4.2 percent. Nevertheless,…
Government Can’t Provide Economic Support Forever: Australian Treasurer
The Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has declared that the government could not permanently continue to support the unprecedented levels of economic support provided over the past two years. Speaking with the Australian Industry Group on Feb. 7, seven weeks away from the pre-election budget announcement on March 29, Frydenberg said the federal government’s intervention would…
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