Consumer confidence dented by rate rise Consumer confidence fell in December, dented by the Reserve Bank’s decision to lift interest rates for the third time in as many months. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute index of consumer confidence fell by 3.8 percent in December, and is now down 4.7 percent since September. The fall has come as […]
Economy to remain sluggish until 2011 The Australian economy will remain slugging for at least the next 18 months, and growth will be slow, according to a senior Treasury bureaucrat. In a speech to the Australian Business Economists (ABE) conference in Sydney, Treasury director of the Domestic Macroeconomic Group Dr David Gruen said that the […]
As the cash rate continues to increase, economists are putting their bets on just how high it will go, with many believing it will peak somewhere around the four to five percent mark by 2010.
Australia Post’s draft proposal to increase the price of stamps once again from 55 cents to 60 cents has been rejected by competition watchdog, The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
While the Federal Government has been working to cut red tape for Australia’s business community, the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) is doing just the opposite by issuing new draft guidelines which would ramp up reporting complexity for many Australian businesses, says Grant Thornton Australia.
Federal opposition leader Tony Abbott has today announced his new front bench with some surprising results. Most notably, Small Business Minister Steven Ciobo has been dumped and replaced by replaced by sustainable development spokesman Bruce Billson.
Businesses want tax cuts and lower interest rates Australian businesses would prefer tax cuts and lower interest rates to stimulus incentives, a new survey has found. According to the Atradius Economic Crisis Survey, 59 percent of Australian businesses surveyed believe the Federal Government’s stimulus incentives made no difference to their businesses, with the majority believing […]
SMEs say ETS is not the right solution A new survey has found that the majority of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) believe that the Federal Government’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) in its current form is not the right solution. A survey conducted by SME Boardroom last week found that one third of SMEs support […]
A new survey has found Australian businesses were remarkably upbeat last month, despite a second rise in interest rates. NAB’s monthly business survey found that business confidence rose three points to +19 in November, the highest level recorded since may 2002. While business conditions eased two points to +10, they still maintained most of the […]
Retailers in for a “modest” Christmas Retailers are in for a slow Christmas this year, with retail sales growth expected to be “modest” as rising borrowing costs and slower wages growth erodes spending, Access Economics says. The economic forecaster released a report this morning, revealing Christmas sales would be reasonable, but well short of boom […]
