(11 August 2011 – Australia) National Australia Bank chief executive Cameron Clyne warned that the biggest threat to the Australian economy would be unemployment if the world financial markets remain volatile.’If unemployment changes and rises, then clearly that has implications for the mortgage book,’ he said.
‘People will generally start to have difficulties with that, and that flows through to business credit.
‘So it’s unemployment that we are watching: if that trends up then it becomes a different ball game.’
He said Australian banks faced a tough environment with ‘panic and crisis’ on financial markets.
‘It’s fair to say that we are operating in a pretty uncertain environment right now,’ Mr Clyne said.
‘I don’t need to list all those reasons that have translated into uncertainty, but it’s hurt business and consumer confidence and that is having an effect on our business. We are seeing that across the whole bank.’
He said despite the crisis, the bank would not alter its strategy to boost market share in core areas of retail and business banking.