MacroBusiness Access Subscriber Only Content Via Bill Evans at Westpac: • The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment increased by 1.9% in February from 107.0 in January to 109.1 in February. This increase in the Index has recouped around half the loss we saw in January when the Index fell from 112.0 in December to 107.0. Recall that the December print was a ten year high so the bounce-back in February signals that the consumer remains extraordinarily confident. High confidence amongst consumers is critically important for the economy at this juncture. The Federal government is scheduled to phase out the JobKeeper program at the end of March. It is vital that households, which have built up a very large financial buffer through the pandemic (recently estimated by the Reserve Bank at $200 billion or 15% of pre-pandemic annual income), are prepared to now use that buffer to partially offset the impact on the economy of the withdrawal of support programs.