Australia: Weakness in retail sales ahead of stimulus – Westpac

Matthew Hassan, analyst at Westpac, points out that Australia’s July retail update showed sales down 0.1% in the month, undershooting the consensus forecasts of a 0.2% gain.

Key Quotes

“Annual growth held at 2.4%yr, the slowest pace since the start of 2018. The June gain was revised up slightly from 0.3% to 0.4%.”

“The result implies little or no boost from recent policy measures – the RBA's recent interest rate cuts and the Government's tax offset payments only likely to have started impacting household cash flows from late in the month. The measures, which add $16bn to total disposable income, should see a clearer impact in coming months.”

“Overall the disappointing result underscores the difficult conditions facing retailers and lacklustre consumer demand ahead of recent policy stimulus. August should see more of the stimulus effects start to show through.”