Small firms’ growth expectations hit two-year high
After a slow start to the year, confidence among small businesses rebounded in the June quarter, and their activity
expectations are the highest in two years, according to ANZ’s Business Micro Scope survey.
A net 17% of small firms are confident about business conditions over the year ahead, up from 14% in the March quarter.
The rise in confidence is mirrored in other key indicators for small business sentiment and activity tracked by the
survey.
The ANZ composite measure – a key proxy for growth based on a firm’s own activity outlook, hiring, investment and profit
expectations – improved to +22, its highest since Q1 2015. The most positive outlook was from intermediate businesses (6
to 20 staff) which edged up from +27 to +29, while micro businesses (up to five staff) held at +15.
ENDS