SA business confidence up, but still lowest in nation
Business confidence in South Australia has risen but still remains the lowest in the nation, a business survey has found.
The latest Sensis Business Index survey of 1000 small and medium businesses also found the South Australian Government is the most unpopular in Australia, despite a small rise.
South Australian businesses were the equal most supportive of the Federal Government, along with their counterparts in Tasmania, following a 30 point rise in the survey.
At the same time, South Australian and Western Australian businesses were the equally most negative states about the state of the economy.
“Unfavourable business conditions continue to impact on business confidence. South Australian businesses were the most likely to nominate the economic climate as a key concern this quarter,” said Sensis CEO John Allan.
Businesses said that “high taxes” and “wasteful spending” were the biggest concerns about the policies of the State Government.
“A lack of work and sales are also worrying SA businesses more than others around the country,” Allan said.
Confidence in the Federal Government has increased since Malcolm Turnbull replaced Tony Abbott as Prime Minister.
Nationally, business confidence has jumped to its highest level in almost five years.
Key findings
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- South Australian SMBs are equally most supportive of the Federal Government, following a 30 point rise in support to +18 on a net basis. The other equally most supportive State is Tasmania.
- South Australia, together with Western Australia, is the most negative about the current state of the economy, posting a net balance score of -32.
- Confidence in Adelaide moved into positive territory (-5 to +15) but remains well below the national average.
- Confidence in regional South Australia is up four points (+16 to +20), which is also below the national average.
- In 2015, SA was the worst performer for capital expenditure (-12).
- For the coming year SA has the lowest expectations for five out of six of the key indicators – sales (+15), employment (+1), wages (+15), prices (+17) and capital expenditure (-17).
The survey was taken from October to November 2015.
Read the full report here.
