Roy Morgan consumer confidence pops on Budget

From Roy Morgan:

Consumer Confidence is at 115.7pts (up 5.4pts in a week) according to the Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating conducted last weekend (May 12/13, 2012) — the first measure of Consumer Confidence after Treasurer Wayne Swan delivered the Federal Budget last Tuesday and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s Budget reply on Thursday. Consumer Confidence is now as it was a year ago, May 14/15, 2011 (115.7).

The rise in Consumer Confidence has been primarily driven by increased confidence about all components of the survey, except there is a small decrease in the number of Australians saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items.

Australians are far more confident about Australia’s economy over the next twelve months with 33% (up 6%) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ economically over the next twelve months compared to 31% (down 6%) of Australians that expect Australia to have ‘bad times’.

Now 30% (up 1%) of Australians say their family is ‘better off’ financially compared to a year ago while 27% (down 6%) say their family is ‘worse off’ financially (the lowest since February 12/13, 2011).

Australians are slightly more confident about their personal finances over the next 12 months with 38% (up 1%) saying they expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially while 17% (down 4%) expect to be ‘worse off’.

Australians remain more confident about Australia’s economy over the long-term with 35% (unchanged) of Australians expecting Australia to have ‘good times’ economically over the next five years compared to 18% (down 4%) that expect ‘bad times’ (the lowest since October 29/30, 2011).

A few points. This survey obviously contradicts yesterday’s Westpac version but generally the two do track each other pretty well. It’s no surprise to see something of a bounce given the Budget was much friendlier than anticipated. Given the deteriorating news flow, however, I do not expect it can be sustained.