Australian consumer sentiment rose for the first time in four months in May, recovering from 15-year lows the previous month, helped by tax cuts announced in the federal budget last week, a survey showed on Wednesday. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index rose 2.7 percent in May to 89.8, off a trough of 87.4 in April which was the lowest reading since June 1993.
Still the index was 27.6 percent lower than May last year. "A wide range of factors would have affected sentiment in May although the most prominent would have been the federal budget," Bill Evans, chief economist at Westpac.
"The modest bounce is somewhat disappointing...and is still indicating a depressed consumer." He added that after last year's budget, consumer sentiment surged by 7.5 percent to a record high. The survey of 1,200 consumers was taken just days after the Labour government delivered its first budget after almost 12 years in opposition early last week.