sydneyaustralian business confidence fell sharply in february as interest rates continued to rise casting a shadow over the ongoing strength of consumer spending but business conditions remained solid suggesting the economy remained resilient overall through the start of the year national australia banks monthly business survey for february showed business confidence fell 10 points to a net balance of 4 points while business conditions fell 1 point to 17 points the survey confirms the ongoing resilience of the economy through the first months of 2023 despite high inflation and the ongoing passthrough of higher interest rates to households said nab chief economist alan oster the survey data will be closely considered by the reserve bank of australia which last week raised the possibility that it might announce a pause in interestrate increases rba gov philip lowe noted that the official cash rate has been raised by 350 basis points in less than a year adding he had an open mind about the outcomes of coming policy meetings the rba raised the official cash rate a further 25 basis points last week to 360 its highest level in over a decade still the nab survey wont include any impact on global markets flowing from the failure last week of silicon valley bank in the us which has prompted financial markets to sharply lower the prospect of further interestrate increases for now in the us and australia earlier tuesday pricing for a further rise in rates by the rba in april was negligible while business confidence was much lower in february indicators of labor costs suggest that inflation pressures remain significant while we expect inflation likely peaked in the fourth quarter price growth remains elevated and the survey suggests that while global goodsside pressures have abated somewhat there has been less evidence of easing in servicesside pressures mr oster said nab continues to expect a more material slowdown in aggregate demand but it will likely come later in 2023 when the full effect of interestrate rises has passed through to households