Consumer confidence has fallen sharply in June, with concerns about budget and tax issues dominating responses to the monthly survey. This is the largest decline since March 2009 and means that at 101.9 the optimists only narrowly outweigh pessimists. The Westpac – Melbourne Institute index fell 5.7 per cent in June, after sliding 7 per cent in May. Most of the continuing slide can be attributed to the Reserve Bank’s string of six interest rate rises in eight months and to concerns around the impact of the Government’s mining tax. This sentiment demonstrates the further deterioration of disposable income that can be spent in Convenience Stores and there is no doubt that retailers (and by follow on – suppliers) are doing it tough.
See http://www.melbourneinstitute.com/research/macro/csi.html