According to a survey conducted by ANZ Bank and pollster Roy Morgan, Australian consumer confidence rose by 2.5 points last week. While this is a positive development, the index remains below 80 points for the 17th straight week – comparable to the highly destructive recession of the early 1990s.
Expectations of future financial conditions fell to its weakest point since March 2020, ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) policy meeting on July 4th. The meeting is expected to announce another rise in the official cash rate, from its current 4.1% to 4.35%.
The survey also found that inflation expectations rose by 0.4 percentage points to 5.9%, marking the highest reading since mid-March.
The lowest level of consumer confidence was among those who were paying off their homes, as they expressed lower confidence levels than renters and outright owners, who had the highest-confidence cohort.
While there was a notable decline in confidence to buying major household items, current economic conditions rose by 1.4 points and future economic conditions increased by 5.1 points, rising above 90 points.
The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan confidence survey conducted with 1,479 participants showed that consumers are avoiding stores despite the boost in consumer confidence.
