The Reserve Bank’s decision yesterday to leave the cash rate on hold has come as a rude shock to restaurant, cafe and pub owners across the country.
One in 10 hospitality businesses have closed in the last year, according to data from Creditor Watch – and the RBA failed to serve up some much-needed relief after the cash rate remained steady at 3.85 per cent.
Roger Awar, who owns cafe Fresco-Bah in Adelaide’s city centre, said the rate decision was a double blow for proprietors like himself.
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Like many, he had hoped for more positive news, meaning customers would spend more and his own interest repayments would be slashed.
“It’s a little bit disappointing – because it doesn’t look after us as business owners,” Awar said.
“We would like people to have more disposable income so we could have more customer spend – you see everything else has gone up – interest rates coming down would definitely help.”
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Co-founder of Riversdale Group and the Australian Pub Fund Patrick Coughlan said the hospitality industry was often the first to feel the impact of a rate cut when it happened.
He hopes that business surge might be coming next time the RBA meets.
“Our data is certainly showing the second half of the year is going to be a bit kinder,” Coughlan told 9News.
Businesses and mortgage holders may have to wait at least five weeks for the next rate decision in August.
For the first time, the RBA published the unattributed vote count from their interest rate decision yesterday.
This was a split decision. Of the nine members of the board, six voted to hold rates, while three were in favour of a cut.
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