RBA Assistant Governor Malcolm Edey said that consumer confidence has returned to high levels, at a speech given at the 7th Annual Retail Financial Services Forum. Despite the optimism Edey was “wary of making any predictions,” he said. Nonetheless “in the past few months there have been encouraging signs of improvement.” The signs referred to by the Assistant Governor must be primarily linked to the performance of equities, which have surged 27% between the start of March and the end of July. Broader economic conditions have not warranted the optimism, especially since retail sales plummeted when they were expected to actually grow, and especially after full-time jobs continued to be shed in favor of part-time ones.
BUSINESS
