Australian Consumers Remain Cautiously Pessimistic: Westpac Survey

(RTTNews) - Australian consumers remained 'cautiously pessimistic' in February amid stretched household finances, survey data from Westpac showed on Tuesday.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index registered 92.2 in February, slightly up from 92.1 in January.

The survey suggested that there may have been a larger than normal financial 'hangover' from the Christmas period and that many are still struggling with cost-of-living problems.

The 'family finances vs a year ago' sub-index slipped 3.4 percent to 75.1 in February. At 105, the 'finances, next 12 months' rose to 105.0, meaning optimists outnumber pessimists.

The sub-indexes tracking expectations for the economy over the next 12 months and over the next five years both ticked higher in February to 92.6 and 97.5, respectively.

The 'time to buy a major household item' sub-index was almost unchanged in February, ticking up 0.1 percent to 90.9.

Westpac Head of Australian Macro-Forecasting Matthew Hassan said the Reserve Bank board is expected to begin reducing the restrictiveness of monetary policy with a 25 basis point cut at its upcoming meeting.