Wednesday's survey of 1200 people by the Melbourne Institute and Westpac Bank showed its index of consumer sentiment slipped a seasonally adjusted 3.2 per cent in April, from March when it dipped 1.2 per cent.

The index reading of 96.2 was 3.5 per cent lower than in April last year. The retreat unwound more of February's sharp 8.0 per cent gain which followed a cut in interest rates early that month.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has since held rates steady, but has left the door open for further easing if needed.

"This is a disappointing result," said Westpac's chief economist Bill Evans.

"We must recognise that confidence is again looking vulnerable heading into the Budget announcement next month."

"Indeed, recognition that the next Budget is imminent may have contributed to this month's weakening in confidence."

Tony Abbott's government releases its fiscal budget on May 12 and is struggling to find a way back to surplus as sliding export prices eat into tax revenue.

Mr Evans said budget announcements that would have an impact on families usually had the biggest affect on consumer sentiment, last year the Medicare co-payment announcement and changes to family benefits were big factors in the drop.

Even if the budget did not contain much bad news for families, "people are fickle," and might over react, he said.

But Mr Evans said he would be surprised if consumer confidence dropped below 92.

The ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence survey had recorded little change on Tuesday – it rose 0.1 per cent to 109.8 – after dropping the week before.

A National Australia Bank survey found business sentiment and conditions had picked up in March, although that bank's chief economist warned the improvements were "weak and patchy."

Wespac's April survey showed its measure of economic conditions for the next five years fell a sharp 10.2 per cent, while that for the next 12 months dropped 6.7 per cent.

A measure of family finances compared to a year ago fell 7.4 per cent, while the outlook for the next 12 months eased a relatively slim 0.7 per cent.

"Recall that at this time last year the index registered 99.7 but tumbled by 6.8 per cent to 92.9 in the aftermath of the 2014–15 budget," Mr Evans said.

"From that point confidence remained weak for the remainder of 2014 and was a contributing factor to the soft spending profile during the second half of 2014."

Despite all the anxiety, respondents still felt it was a good time to buy a major household item, with that index climbing 5.9 per cent in April.

Sales of household goods have been running strongly so far this year amid buoyant property markets in Sydney and Melbourne, while sales of new vehicles enjoyed a record March performance.

Still, Evans felt the consumer mood was fragile enough to warrant more stimulus from the central bank.

"We are extremely confident that the RBA will finally deliver the much anticipated second cut of 25 basis points on May 5", he said.

with Reuters