Consumer confidence picked up slightly this month, but an economist says households will remain cautious about their spending.
The ANZ Roy-Morgan Consumer Confidence Index rose five points in January, to 117.
A reading above 100 indicates optimists outnumber pessimists, and the index is at its highest level since the middle of last year.
But ANZ chief economist, Cameron Bagrie, says households are unlikely to open their wallets too wide.
He says consumer confidence may appear more buoyant than it actually is simply because it's summer.
