March sees rise in business confidence

Businesses around the country are feeling confident about their prospects in the coming months, with intentions to pursue growth remaining stable. This should hopefully provide a boost to employment as well, as companies seek the best talent to ensure they are prepared for the increase in business.

Enterprises looking to capitalise on this will need comprehensive productivity solutions to keep staff ahead of the competition as investment heats up.

These predictions are posited by Roy Morgan Research in the latest business confidence survey where over 900 companies across the country were interviewed. The results see a noticeable improvement over February's statistics, with positivity improving by 6.3 per cent.

The key driver, as identified by the firm, was the number of businesses specifically looking to invest in growth within the next year. This has risen from 50 per cent in February to 56 per cent for last month, which is the highest level recorded in 2015. It also brings the value closer to the long term average, something that previous months failed to do.

However, this survey was conducted before the decline in the Australian dollar, the effects of which are yet to be seen in the economy. The changes caused by various monetary policies are also expected to be minor until a larger jump in confidence emerges. 

Despite this, Industry Communications Director at Roy Moran Research Norman Morris believes there are still positives to be taken from this report due to the rise over previous months' results. 

"A promising sign for Australia's economic growth prospects is the fact that businesses are now more confident about investing in expansion over the coming year than they have been for some time. The proportion of those who believe it will be a good time to increase investment is at its highest level for 2015 so far. If this can be sustained over the coming months, the economy and the banks will benefit," he said.