Australian consumers remain upbeat on income and economic outlook despite Brexit jitters

Australian consumers remained upbeat on their personal finances and the country’s economic outlook despite tensions triggered by the decisive win of voters supporting Brexit in the UK's referendum paving a way for UK's exit from the European Union. According to ANZ’s latest report, consumer confidence has declined 1.7 percent from last week, but despite jitters aroundd Brexit, confidence still remains at near one-month high.

The indicator on 'finances compared to a year ago' declined 2.3 percent, only partially unwinding the spike over the previous week; while views’ towards 'finances in the next 12 months' actually rose 2.7 percent. However, the indicator 'economic conditions in the next 12 months' dropped a sharp 9 percent, while views towards 'economic conditions in the next 5 years' eased only marginally, down 0.9 percent, ANZ reported.

"The turmoil in financial markets and concerns over the global economic outlook – spurred by the UK’s decision to leave the EU – have not (at least not yet) significantly affected Australian consumers. Confidence eased only marginally last week and remains close to a multi-year high," said Felicity Emmett, Head, Australian Economics, ANZ.

Meanwhile, the strength in confidence reflected the solid momentum in Australia's economy, while economists said low interest rates and the ongoing strength in the housing market were all behind the current wave of relatively high confidence among consumers, ANZ added in its report.