The recent interest rate hikes by RBA seemed not to impact much on the confidence levels of the consumers in the month of April. According to the latest released data by the Westpac Banking Corp. and the Melbourne Institute, the consumer sentiment index was reported down slightly by 1% compared to March. The index was still near the highest level in past three years. The strong consumer confidence is reportedly said to be a result of stronger than expected jobs market in Australia.

Westpac Banking Corp. and the Melbourne Institute released the figures of the consumer sentiment index today. The index fell just 1% to the level of 116.1, while it was reported at 117.3 in the month of March. Westpac said that this was a surprisingly strong result.

The hikes in the interest rates by Reserve Bank of Australia did not impact much on the index. In fact, after the latest increase of 25 basis points the standard variable mortgage rate in March, the index was reported up by 0.2%. According to Westpac, the index has fallen only 2.7% since the RBA started raising rates last year.

"It is reasonable to conclude that from the perspective of the index the rate hikes have not started to impact on the confidence of the Australian consumer," said Bill Evans, chief economist at Westpac.