Local businesses say economic conditions have deteriorated rapidly as movement restrictions and social gathering measures tighten their grip on the Hunter Region.
The latest edition of the Business NSW Business Conditions Survey has shown the Hunter economy was one of the hardest hit in the state, following months of bush fires, drought, and now, COVID-19.
More than 200 of the 2,000 responses in the survey were collected from the Hunter, with 70 percent of businesses state-wide claiming they would have to cease trading or scale down if lockdown measures were sustained.
Bob Hawes, CEO of the Hunter Business Chamber, says the rapid erosion of business confidence has been dramatic and will likely have lasting consequences.
“The impact of COVID-19 on confidence is most apparent in business expectations for the next quarter, with confidence falling to levels not seen since the Global Financial Crisis.”
Although businesses in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie were somewhat less affected than those in the Hunter Valley, the impact upon business confidence was still "catastrophic".
While businesses will be able to access federal JobKeeper subsidies from May, nearly 90 percent of businesses still expect the June quarter to be weaker than that of March.
"We're certainly thankful that the government are putting stimulus packages on the table that employees and employers can access," said Mr Hawes. "We're really hopeful that these are going to be able to sustain the level of activity that we need to make sure that when recovery does come, we can take the best advantage of it."
In the meantime, businesses were reported to be moving away from traditional growth objectives such as growing revenue and expanding capacity in favour of downsizing and maintaining solvency.
“All of these trends are consistent with what has been observed through our daily engagement with businesses over the past weeks and why it is so important that every tier of government does all that is possible to keep businesses in operation and staff employed,” Mr Hawes said.
“It is also clear that further restrictions on movement and social gathering would be highly detrimental to business, so it is important that the community observes the current rules and regulations, especially over the coming holiday period, so we don’t see more limitations imposed.”
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| Image credit: Hunter Business Chamber |
