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10 Dec 2014
Australian consumer confidence collapses in December
FXStreet (Bali) - The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index saw a major 5.7% decline in December from 96.6 in November to 91.1 in December.
Westpac Chief Economist Bill Evans said: “This is a very disturbing result. With one exception all the components of the index were down: the sub-index tracking views on ‘family finances vs a year ago’ rose 1.6% but ‘family finances, next 12 months’ was down 4%, ‘economic conditions, next 12 months’ fell 9.7% and ‘economic conditions, next five years’ was down 1.8%." Evan added that major falls were seen in the “time to buy a major household item sub index, down 11.8% from 124.2 to 109.6."
Evans added: “In a world where other developed economies have near zero interest rates and, accordingly, the Australian dollar is overvalued, Australia should seize the opportunity to provide further interest rate relief to the economy and exert some more downward pressure on the Australian dollar."
Westpac Chief Economist Bill Evans said: “This is a very disturbing result. With one exception all the components of the index were down: the sub-index tracking views on ‘family finances vs a year ago’ rose 1.6% but ‘family finances, next 12 months’ was down 4%, ‘economic conditions, next 12 months’ fell 9.7% and ‘economic conditions, next five years’ was down 1.8%." Evan added that major falls were seen in the “time to buy a major household item sub index, down 11.8% from 124.2 to 109.6."
Evans added: “In a world where other developed economies have near zero interest rates and, accordingly, the Australian dollar is overvalued, Australia should seize the opportunity to provide further interest rate relief to the economy and exert some more downward pressure on the Australian dollar."