Consumer confidence was steady last week, but inflation expectations continued to surge, according to the latest ANZ-Roy Morgan survey.
Weekly inflation expectations rose 0.4 percentage points to 6.4 per cent last week, the highest weekly reading since June 2012. Its four-week moving average rose 0.3ppt to 5.8 per cent.
Consumer confidence was virtually unchanged with a decline of just 0.1 per cent. Among the major states, confidence dropped in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, while it increased in NSW and Western Australia.
“Consumer confidence is very weak given the strength of employment, which we think is directly linked to concerns over cost-of-living pressures,” said ANZ’s head of Australian economics, David Plank.
“It will be interesting to see whether the measures expected in the Federal Budget provide a boost to confidence.”