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New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows businesses are confident they’ll be able to pay their bills as business conditions and confidence improve.
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Businesses wean themselves off government support as conditions improve
26 March 2021
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The ABS on Thursday released the latest results of its Business Conditions and Sentiments Survey (formerly known as the Business Indicators, Business Impacts of COVID-19 Survey), which showed respondents more confident in being able to meet financial commitments, a downturn in decreased revenue and a waning dependence on government support.
Results showed 46 per cent of businesses expected it to be easy, or very easy, to meet financial commitments over the next three months, compared to 23 per cent in August last year, while reports of decreased revenue halved.
“This latest survey also showed the proportion of businesses reporting decreased revenue halved over the same period, falling from 41 per cent in August [2020] to 22 per cent in March,” said John Shepherd, head of industry statistics at the ABS.
Australian businesses are also weaning themselves off government support, with only 23 per cent of businesses turning to government subsidies in March, compared to the 73 per cent of businesses receiving federal support in March last year.
“Wage subsidies were the most common support measure accessed in March (21 per cent), with small businesses less likely than medium and large businesses to be accessing this support (20 per cent, compared to 29 per cent and 23 per cent),” Mr Shepherd said.
The survey’s results also showed a return to employment optimism, with 19 per cent of businesses — or one in five — expecting staff numbers to swell over the next three months. Of the businesses expecting to hire, 58 per cent of them expect the roles to be permanent.
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The increased business confidence seen in the Business Conditions and Sentiments Survey follows updated employment numbers released by the ABS last week which showed a return to pre-pandemic employment, as employment rose above 13 million people in February.
“The strong employment growth this month saw employment rise above 13 million people, and was 4,000 people higher than March 2020,” said Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS.
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