Australia’s Troubles Ahead

As Australia grapples with a mining sector downturn, economists warn that a new headwind threatens to hit business sentiment: waning consumer confidence.

“There are early signs that the transition away from mining investment is slowly occurring…but some new downside risks have emerged,” Felicity Emmett, senior economist at ANZ wrote in a report.  “Most worrying has been the sharp fall in consumer confidence over recent weeks which appears to be related to the 2014-15 Commonwealth Budget savings measures which largely targeted households,” she said.

Consumer confidence slumped after the government last month delivered its harshest budget in nearly two decades, slashing welfare spending and hiking taxes for high-income earners to rein in the ballooning budget deficit.

CNBC

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