The Commonwealth Bank – Australia’s biggest bank/a big player in our economy – says its customers cut their spending as soon as the first interest rate increase was announced in May. Presenting the company’s very healthy financial results yesterday, boss Matt Comyn said the dive in consumer confidence is more pronounced with customers who have a mortgage. “Those increases in the cash rate are going to have, and continue to have, quite a pronounced effect on the economy,” he said. That’s in line with the latest temperature check on consumer sentiment – the latest Westpac-Melbourne Institute survey showed households have become “deeply pessimistic”. That’s not the winter blues speaking… High inflation, interest rate hikes and falling home prices have freaked Aussies out. Having said that, we’re so far making ends meet. “We’re looking for early signs of stress. We’re not seeing that yet,” said Comyn.