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RBA deputy governor, Philip Lowe’s comments, which played down the likelihood of a recession, came as a key business survey showed business confidence bounced in the wake of Malcolm Turnbull’s ascent to the prime ministership last month.
“People say business and consumer confidence are weak, but that’s just not correct: they are around average, and some surveys are above average,” Mr Lowe said yesterday, while cautioning property investors against continued house price growth in Sydney and Melbourne.
NAB’s monthly business survey — taken in late September after the formation of the Turnbull cabinet — showed improved business confidence, a sustained improvement in trading conditions, and a sharp increase in hiring plans. “It shows a good degree of resilience in what appears to be a building non-mining sector recovery,” said NAB’s chief economist, Alan Oster, noting that the degree of slack in the economy had fallen to a three-year low.
Mr Lowe said the slump in the dollar to below US70c was working as intended. “We’re seeing very strong growth in exports of services in our trade figures, especially tourism, and imports of services have slowed down.
Read more at The Australian
Whilst it's too early to pass judgement on long term impact of the Turnbull government the fact it has hit the ground running with a more co-operative approach to policy and business has generated a cautious optimism among many sectors.