The South Australian Business Chamber supports its national counterpart, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) call for the Reserve Bank to pause any further increases to the cash rate at its April meeting.
In a press release issued on Wednesday, ACCI boss Andrew McKellar highlighted small businesses across Australia are feeling the pinch of rate rises just like households.
“Escalating interest rates mean more small businesses are struggling to keep up with loans on capital assets and buildings, as well as cover rising operational costs”.
With commentators speculating that inflation has peaked, it’s expected inflation will start to return to more sustainable levels.
Following 10 consecutive interest rate rises, we strongly recommend the Reserve Bank halt these rises at its next meeting on Tuesday to give some time for the effects to fully take shape.
The South Australian Business Chamber William Buck Survey of Business Expectations for the December quarter 2022 found that sales were the top issue keeping business owners awake at night. We are seeing a shift from supply chain issues to falling consumer demand as the economy tightens. Businesses are reporting an expectation that continual interest rate hikes are starting to bite, reflecting the importance of pausing rate hikes.
