Shrugging off global and domestic uncertainty

The early evidence suggests that businesses and households in Australia have not been ruffled by the UK’s vote to leave the EU and Australia’s close Federal election result. Admittedly, consumer confidence did fall in July. But that decline was small and probably had more to do with the unwinding of the boost from May’s interest rate cut. And the survey of business confidence by NAB, which was conducted after the UK’s vote, actually rose in June. Although we are less optimistic than most on the outlook for the economy, that’s not because of recent events in Europe.