A survey of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Australia showed business expectations were at four-year highs, despite some weakening in sales and profit figures in the three months to April.
The May 2003 Yellow Pages business index for SMEs found these businesses were confident conditions would improve over the next 12 months.
Yellow Pages chief economist and survey author Steven Shepherd said while business confidence had declined marginally in the quarter, it remained at historically high levels.
"Confidence remained high and some of the key factors associated with that was their perceptions of the Australian economy," Mr Shepherd said. "In terms of how they see the Australian economy performing at the moment, that accelerated ... and the issue of their expectations about the Australian economy a year from now, that increased at an even faster rate."
