We are assuming, for example, that consumer demand, and first home buyer demand for finance, will be softer in the second half of the year. Nonetheless, the retreat from the extreme risk aversion of nine months ago, the partial recovery of household net worth and the impact of low interest rates will offer support to private demand over the period ahead.
Survey measures of business confidence have lifted from the very low levels seen at the beginning of the year to be close to their long run average. Capacity utilisation has stopped its sharp decline. Business credit has been falling, but this has been more than offset by increases in non intermediated sources of funding, such as equity raisings and corporate bond issuance.