Aust'n business conditions the best they've been since global financial crisis: survey

Business conditions in Australia are the strongest they have been since the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC), National Australia Bank's (NAB) monthly business survey revealed on Tuesday.

According to the survey, conditions for doing business rose five points in March to be at +14, despite overall business sentiment easing by one point and business confidence easing one point to +6.

According to NAB's chief economist, Alan Oster, the results come as a surprise, especially considering the destruction caused by Tropical Cyclone Debbie throughout the states of New South Wales and Queensland earlier this month.

"The bounce in business conditions this month came as a bit of a surprise, especially the big improvement in Queensland in light of the likely disruptions from Cyclone Debbie in late March," Oster said on Tuesday.

"One possibility is that 'Debbie' is having the unexpected effect of overstating conditions in March given that the cyclone coincided with a lower response rate from firms in Northern Queensland.

"Even so, conditions have improved almost across the board to levels that suggest a strong economy in the near term."

In addition, the business survey also showed improvement in Western Australia, which had been affected by economic downturn following the conclusion of the mining boom, while there was also a rise in confidence in the general mining sector after commodity prices bounced back after lows last year.

Despite the positive news, the retail sector was a weak point; Oster said a poor festive season over Christmas led to poor confidence.

"The apparent weakness in retail is driving our relatively downbeat outlook for consumption," Oster said. Endit