When banks voluntarily start reducing interest rates we can be sure that things are slowing down in the money lending department and there have been a series of falls in fixed term mortgage rates in recent days. And now we have the Commonwealth Bank reporting that its Business Sales Indicator showed sales by businesses deteriorated further in July “as the lacklustre performance in retail spending spread across the Australian economy.”

The Indicator, a  measure of economy-wide spending, tracking the value of credit and debit card transactions processed through Commonwealth Bank point-of-sale terminals, a sample of approximately 30% of the Australian market,  fell by 0.3% in July, following a 0.5% decline in June.

According to Matt Comyn, Executive General Manager, Local Business Banking, Commonwealth Bank, the latest figures further highlighted how low consumer confidence was taking its toll on the Australian economy. “We are now seeing signs of a broader fallout from continued subdued trading conditions, where a lack of consumer spending is starting to affect a wider set of businesses, not just those in the retail sector,” said Mr Comyn.