Business confidence has reversed the gains made last month amid on-going domestic and global headwinds, according to an ANZ Bank monthly survey.
A net 38.1 per cent of the 376 respondents to the ANZ Business Outlook expect general business conditions will deteriorate during the coming year, compared with 32 per cent in May and 37.5 per cent in April. A net 8 per cent anticipate an improvement for their own businesses, compared to 8.5 per cent a month earlier.
"The outlook for the economy is murky," ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner said. "As things stand, there is no reason for the economy to fall into a deep hole. Commodity prices are good, interest rates are at record lows and the labour market is tight. But the economy is facing credit and cost headwinds and the global outlook is deteriorating."
On Wednesday, the central bank held rates steady at 1.5 per cent but said risks are tilted to the downside and that more support from monetary policy will likely be necessary.
Several indicators in the latest survey were unchanged from last month. On a net basis, no firms are expecting to shed staff, versus 0.3 per cent that did in the prior survey. The number expecting to invest during the year ahead stood at a net 2.5 per cent from 2.9 per cent, while those expecting to increase their capacity utilisation was steady at 5.3 per cent from 5.4 per cent a month earlier.