Home topics news News News Shoppers not spending with fears over economy David Olsen March 30, 2010 Australian shoppers are yet to resume spending since the global financial crisis, with many concerned over the security of their jobs as the economy recovers. The SMH reports a survey of 1,000 people by the Australian National Retailers Association has found that while the majority of Australians (56 percent) believed the global financial crisis was over, a much lower number (39 percent) were ready to take out their credit cards and spend up on non-essential items such as clothing, shoes, homewares and appliances. Australian National Retailers Association chief executive Margy Osmond believes that consumer confidence has not recovered yet due to repeated increases in interest rates from the Reserve Bank of Australia. “Shrewd shoppers will create challenges for retailers this year,” Ms Osmond said in a statement. “There are still a few obstacles on the path to recovery and rising interest rates is the largest hurdle.” Believing that further increases to official interest rates will only serve to damage the fragile state of consumer confidence, Ms Osmond is cautioning the Reserve Bank against increasing interest rates next Tuesday, with any impact to be felt negatively by retailers. As further evidence that consumer confidence is down, consumers are opting against using credit cards and increasing their future debt burden, instead opting to use debit cards or pay cash in 63 percent of transactions. Interest rates are expected to increase by 25 basis points when