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 sharp nine point gain reported last month.
NAB chief economist Alan Oster said the economy had continued to show “significant momentum.”
The improvement came even though the Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates for a second time early in the month.
On the back of such positive results, NAB moved to increase its forecasts for economic growth. NAB now predicts GDP to grow by one percent for 2009, and two percent growth for 2010.
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