Australia’s devastating bushfires have caused consumer confidence to fall in January – another sign of an economy with lacklustre spending.
The monthly Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index fell 1.8 per cent to 93.4 points, remaining below the 100-point neutral mark.
Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said it was somewhat surprising the fall was not more dramatic, given the 5.8 per cent drop which occurred during the Queensland floods in 2011.
AAP