Australia: Business conditions stabilising, confidence falling – Westpac
|Andrew Hanlan, analyst at Westpac, points out that Australian business conditions are stabilising at low levels while business confidence was down in November.
Key Quotes
“As the 2019 year draws towards a close, conditions in the Australian economy remain weak. Policy stimulus is struggling to gain traction. The NAB business survey for November reports that business conditions have stabilised at low levels.”
“The business conditions index was unchanged at +4, a below average reading. The index has moved broadly sideways since April, after tumbling from +19 over the first half of 2018.”
“Business confidence fell by 2pts to 0, reversing the 2pt lift in October. Confidence rallied in May, after the Federal election, but the bounce was short-lived. The lack of confidence is understandable in this challenging environment - with weak domestic sales and a slowing global economy, with heightened uncertainty around international trade.”
“Australia’s September quarter economic report card was another disappointing one - confirming feeble and uneven growth, at 1.7% for the year. The private sector economy is in recession, with private demand contracting by 0.3% in the quarter and declining by 0.4% over the year.”
“The NAB survey suggests that weak conditions have extended into the December quarter and there is a lack of momentum heading into 2020.”
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