Having said that, the mid-March package is providing material help now and it will continue to do so. Interest rates are lower than they have ever been before and the financial system is flush with liquidity. Also helping is the fact that the Australian financial system is in good shape.
Business confidence indicators improved, with the ‘Expected business conditions’ category in the Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index surging in February to its highest level since 2001. Similarly, the FNB/BER2 Consumer Confidence Index reached an all-time high in the first quarter of this year.