sydney aug 9 reuters  a measure of australian consumer sentiment fell for a ninth eighth straight month in august to depths last seen early in the pandemic as another hike in interest rates combined with the surging cost of living to sour the national mood the westpacmelbourne institute index of consumer sentiment released on tuesday slid 30 in august from july when it also dropped 30 the index was down 22 from august last year at 812 meaning pessimists far outnumber optimists the grim mood partly reflected the reserve bank of australias rba decision last week to raise interest rates by another 50 basis points to 185 warning that yet more would be needed to restrain runaway inflation the impact was clear on mortgage holders where confidence tumbled 89 while renters actually firmed 02 a separate weekly survey from anz showed a sharp drop of 45 in its confidence index that wiped out three weeks of gains even as consumption held up household spending has been robust despite very weak consumer sentiment with strong employment gains high levels of household saving and a desire to travel more than offsetting concerns about the rising cost of living said david plank anzs head of australian economics it remains to be seen whether this divergence between confidence and spending can continue rising borrowing costs is adding to pressures from higher energy prices housing and food and saw westpacs measure of whether it was a good time to buy a major household item slide 84 the measure of the economic outlook for the next 12 months dropped 80 while the outlook for the next five years fell 10 measures of family finances steadied a little after months of decline with finances compared with a year ago edging up 01 the outlook for finances over the next 12 months added 23 but was still down almost 18 on the year