A poll by broker LoanMarket has found that 56% of respondents are worried most by the global economic situation. The second major concern for Australians is potential interest rate movements, with 34% citing this as the biggest influence on their financial confidence.
“Uncertain global economic factors are obviously of concern to people despite assurances that Australia is faring much better than other western economies,” says LoanMarket Chief Operating Officer Dean Rushton.
“This lack of confidence in the global environment, particularly the debt crisis in Europe and the United States, is hurting our domestic economy,” says Rushton. “The negative news about events overseas is undoubtedly influencing the majority of Australians and only 10 per cent of our respondents were influenced by positive factors such as the mining boom and the low jobless rate.”
Rushton notes, however, Australians are a lot less anxious about interest rates than they were a few months ago.
Only 6% of people who took part in the online survey said that the relatively low domestic unemployment rate was most influential and just 4% felt reassured by the nation’s ongoing resources boom.
Generation Y respondents are most likely to worry about the international economic climate, with 60% of this group citing it as their greatest concern.
