Seven out of 10 Australians think that the country will have a recession in the next 12 months, according to Switzer Financial Group.
What is more, the number of Australians who expected a recession in the coming months was only slightly lower in May (73.4%) compared to February (75.5%) when also more than half of Australians believed that the economy was average and only 28% described the economy as ‘in good shape’.
At present, 37% still thought that the economy was average however 34% of respondents described the economy as being ‘in bad shape’.
The firm’s director, Peter Switzer, stressed that reopening of the economy and the surprise revelation that only three million, not six million people, needed JobKeeper raised for many fresh hopes that the economy and therefore company profits would not be as badly hit as it was once expected.
As far as the threats to the Australian economy were concerned, the number of those who believed that foreign ownership and control of resources was the biggest concern for the Australian future prosperity grew from 16% from February to 26% in May.
Further to that, 25% of Australians were of the view that it was the lack of investment by business and government while 23% said that it was ‘too much borrowing’. Also, 21% of respondents blamed ‘falling productivity’ and only 6% mentioned climate change.
On top of that, 88% of Australians surveyed said they were happy with Scott Morrison’s performance as Prime Minister, which represented an almost 30% increase in three months.
“It goes to show that people are happy that businesses and the economy are going back to normal. You can see this in the figures, with 64% of Australians saying lockdowns were lifted at the right time,” Switzer said.
“Australians aren’t scared of the coronavirus or a second leg down and that’s why they’re siding with ScoMo and his decisions to get things back to normal.”
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