Kelly Eckhold: Westpac Chief Economist on lending rates increasing 20% year-on-year

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge · Nov 3, 2025 · 3m · transcript

Consumer confidence could be turning around as borrowing rises.

Latest data from credit bureau service Centrix shows residential mortgage and household lending have both increased more than 20% year-on-year.

Personal loan and Buy Now Pay Later applications and business borrowing are also up.

Westpac chief economist Kelly Eckhold told Andrew Dickens we're heading in the right direction, but it's still early days.

He says many of the indicators for growth are still subpar but lower interest rates are starting to flow through.

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