sydneyaustralian consumer confidence nudged higher for the first time in over a month last week as the conversation around the reserve bank of australia turned to the possibility of a pause in interest rate increases after a year of aggressive increases consumer confidence rose 01 point after four straight weeks of declines according to a survey by anz bank and pollster roy morgan confidence among those paying off their mortgage rebounded 29 points after a 43point fall the week before the rba said last week it would reconsider announcing a pause in interest rate increases at its april policy meeting arguing that caution might be needed as only around half of the policy tightening announced since may has been passed on with close to one million households transitioning off ultralow fixed mortgage interest rates over coming months to sharply higher floating rate loans the rba appears increasingly nervous about the impact that could have on consumer spending and economic growth the backdrop of uncertainty surrounding bank failures in europe and the us also argues in favor of a pause however other major central banks including the federal reserve raised interest rates last week apparently less concerned about the risk of financial instability and credit tightening while consumer confidence was marginally higher last week the overall mood of households remains downbeat the measure of confidence remained below the 80 level for a fourth consecutive week consistent with recession and among the worst results posted since the pandemic lockdowns the weekly anzroy morgan australian consumer confidence rating is based on 1505 interviews conducted online and over the telephone during the week to sunday weekly inflation expectations decreased by 05 percentage points to 54 last week its fourweek moving average rose 01 percentage points to 56 the survey showed sentiment around current financial conditions rose 1 point but remained below 70 for a third straight week future financial conditions gained 12 points according to the survey current economic conditions fell 21 points future economic conditions were down 26 points while consumers were more upbeat about buying a major household item with the measure up 29 points