Business outlook has seen its biggest leap in nearly six years following the re-election of the Coalition Government last month.
The Roy Morgan business confidence index took a resounding leap in May, rising 11.2%, in a month when the Coalition Government was re-elected against the expectations of many.
The jump showed that businesses have finally got what they’ve been waiting for, “an end to political uncertainty that has put downward pressure on the index over the last 12-18 months”, Roy Morgan CEO, Michele Levine said.
Business confidence has now recovered to its highest for nearly a year since June 2018. “The increase in business confidence was evident throughout the entire month and driving the monthly increase were big jumps in sentiment about prospects for businesses and the Australian economy over the next year,” Levine said.
In May, 51.3% of businesses said now is a good time to invest in growing the business and a majority expect good times for the Australian economy over the next five years.
Business confidence sat in positive territory above 100 in all six states for the first time in 2019 with big increases in all states except New South Wales, which was unchanged from a month ago.
A trio of important elections in Victoria, NSW and a national election provided a great degree of political uncertainty over the past year. During this period business confidence has consistently trended downwards after reaching a high in January 2018. The jump is the biggest monthly increase since a 12.3% jump in September 2013 when the Coalition Government was first elected.
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