Canberrans upbeat about economic future

People interviewed by The Canberra Times were largely hopeful about the economic rebound as the country eases COVID-19 restrictions.

Most caveated this with some hesitancy about the Omicron variant, with its full impact yet to be seen, and some said they would approach Christmas spending tentatively after the financial hardships wrought by the Delta outbreak.

The comments come in light of Westpac's leading economic sentiment indicator which found there were more optimists about the future state of the economy than pessimists.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute for December dropped one per cent to an index position of 104.3 from the November position of 105.3, with bigger positive swings in states which did not experience lockdowns in the second half of 2021.

Westpac noted a positive index would underpin a strong growth outlook, with large accumulated savings likely to assist national consumer spending levels in the coming year.

The December survey also suggested consumers remain cautious about the rise of the Omicron variant and its potential impact on the pathway out of the pandemic.

Business owner Poppy Vassiliotis said she's optimistic that Canberrans will launch the economy into the new year with big spends over the holiday period.

"I think there are a lot of dollars that need to be spent from people who have been working at home and being paid," Ms Vassiliotis, co-owner of Redpath Shoes in Canberra centre said.

"It is Christmas, so a lot of people are spending: gifts [for] themselves, buying for family members, friends. So money is circulating."

Ms Vassiliotis said the lockdown had bolstered support for local businesses, "Which is really good, especially our little, family-owned business".

While the Omicron variant hangs low over businesses, she said she was fortified by high vaccination rates in Canberra.

"I think because the majority of Canberrans and Australians are all fully vaccinated or they're going for their third booster shortly, I think we'll be okay this time around," she said.

With the future unclear, adult children unable to buy into the housing market, and grandchildren to purchase presents for, Jill Farnbach is a "bit anxious" about Australia's economic direction.

"It seems to be everything's okay at the moment, but I think [Omicron] just adds a level of complexity that people can't quite predict," she said.

"I think it's the uncertainty of everything that's happening at the moment: The rules have changed and we don't quite know what the new rules are."

Ms Farnbach said the family's Christmas plans are "a little bit up in the air still", with her family pulling back a bit when it comes to holiday spending.

"I have bought some presents today but only for the kids, adults can fend for themselves," she said, adding that social scenarios such as her own would also impact upon the economy.

Addi Foster found herself shut out of the job market for five months without savings to fall back on, after she was made redundant at the start of the pandemic.

"As soon as COVID happened, they were like, it's not looking good money-wise and I got made redundant along with .... everybody else in Canberra," she said, noting that many of her friends had also lost work.

Ms Foster eventually found work as a barista at Piccolos, and said she's not downcast about moving into the new year: "I feel optimistic about the future, everything seems to be kind of getting back to normal.

"I think everyone seems to be in much higher spirits than they were before."

The pandemic has changed her spending plans for the holidays, with her family taking a more conservative approach this year.

"My family normally does all of the present-giving to everyone, but we just sat down and we were like: 'We're just going to do a Secret Santa, buy one gift each and that's it'.

"We just want to slowly go back to normal."

Lily Iervasi is worried COVID-19 has set her generation back even further when it comes to financial stability.

"It doesn't seem like things are really geared towards young people," she said.

"It seems like we're gonna have to work quite hard and for a longer time to be able to achieve the things that our parents were able to achieve, that even our grandparents were able to achieve.

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"Or the dreams that our immigrant grandparents came over here for aren't realized by us in the way that they imagined or that we imagined."

Watching property prices in the city creep up month-by-month has left Ms Iervasi concerned about what her economic future looks like.

"It doesn't mean that I've completely lost hope that things will turn around, but it is a bit daunting," she said.

Braidon Dunn, manager at Dolly's bar, said he's ending the year on a high note: "We did do our busiest week of trade we've ever done just last week".

"I think Christmas is often a busy time, regardless, in the hospitality industry, but I think that we bounced back really well after the lockdown," Mr Dunn said.

"It probably gave people a bit of a kick in the backside to actually support their local business, which is always nice, so I do feel optimistic about the future."

He said the pathway forwards for hospitality workers was taking things "day by day", with uncertainty lingering about the impact of the Omicron variant on Australia's economy.

"I don't want to doom predict for anyone, whatever happens, happens," he said.

"I don't think there's anything else that we can do, it's just we'll just deal with it day by day."

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