Australian consumer confidence fell roughly 20% following the Reserve Bank's latest rate rise, reaching levels not seen since the early 1990s recession, according to the Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index.
The Reserve Bank lifted interest rates to their highest point since 2011 last month, marking the fourth rate increase this year. The drop in consumer sentiment tracks directly to that announcement.
The index measures household pessimism about economic conditions and their own financial prospects. The timing suggests Australian households are responding sharply to higher borrowing costs, which typically affect mortgage payments, credit card rates and personal loans.
No further details appear in the source material about which demographic groups drove the decline, what specific concerns households cited, or whether the RBA has indicated plans for additional rate rises. The article does not specify the exact index level or provide month-on-month comparisons beyond the 20% drop figure.
The result signals that monetary tightening has reached a point where consumer behaviour and confidence begin to shift noticeably. Westpac and the Melbourne Institute have tracked this measure for decades, making the comparison to early 1990s conditions a meaningful historical marker.