NAB’s monthly business survey for January revealed business conditions are “are increasingly below the long-run average, falling for the third consecutive month”.
Sales also "deteriorated considerably, profits eased and employment remained soft" in the month.
However, non-mining investments were “still reasonable”, NAB’s chief economist Alan Oster said. He added that “other industries' conditions were flat-to-lower in the month”.
"Confidence remains very weak in mining, consistent with lower commodity prices," Oster said.
The Reserve Bank of Australia announced the 2.25% rate cut last week, which prompted big and small lenders to pass on lowered interest rates.
NAB followed suit by slashing its standard variable rate for home loans by 0.25% to 5.63%, its lowest rate for 40 years.
Collections: Mortgage News
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