Westpac Groups latest Business Snapshot provides a timely pulse on Australian businesses and economic trends impacting SME and Commercial customers.

This is the Banks fourth report and draws on the Group’s proprietary transactional and balance sheet data.

The key insights from the report include:

• While businesses have experienced a slowdown in income, expenses are falling at a faster pace as inflation cools and businesses optimise costs
• This has led to businesses’ income-to-expense ratio rising to its highest level since the December quarter of 2021
• Businesses continue to benefit from strong balance sheets. Around 55 per cent of businesses have deposit levels at least 25 per cent larger than before the pandemic