Westpac note that its consumer............>

AUSTRALIA: Westpac note that its consumer sentiment index reveals that the

"coronavirus outbreak and associated rout in financial markets have had a major

impact on sentiment this month. The Index has hit a five year low. In fact it is

the second lowest level of the Index since the Global Financial Crisis.

Therefore, while clearly very concerned, consumers are, for now, taking a more

balanced approach to the situation than we saw during the GFC. Other evidence of

this can be found by comparing the 'family finances' and 'time to buy a major

household item' components of the Index which registered 63.7 and 88.2

respectively at the low point of the GFC compared to the current reads of 82.7

and 111.4 respectively. The survey detail shows consumers are rightly concerned

about the near term outlook for the economy but are less perturbed about their

finances or the longer term outlook for the economy. That is consistent with the

notion that virus-related disruptions will be large but temporary."