Australian consumer confidence jumped more than 6 percent in May, as a friendlier budget and cheaper credit buoyed spirits, according to the latest Westpac-Melbourne Institute survey.
The survey’s main index rose 6.4 percent, to 102.4, after declines in March and April. It is the first time since January that the index is above 100 points, meaning there are more optimists than pessimists.
Westpac chief economist Bill Evans ascribed the result to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s cash rate cut, to 2 percent, at the beginning of the month and last week’s business- and household-friendly federal budget.
(Source: The Sydney Morning Herald Online )