If the Reserve Bank was hoping for an immediate lift in confidence after its first interest rate cut in a year, it will have been disappointed.
New figures suggest the usual positive reaction to a cut in the cash rate was dampened by what Labor has labelled a "haphazard budget".
The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence gauge, the first since last Tuesday's cash rate cut to a record low 1.75 per cent and Treasurer Scott Morrison's first budget, was unchanged.
"Typically a cut in the RBA's cash rate tends to lift confidence," said ANZ head of economics Felicity Emmett.
"It seems that consumer reaction to the budget is likely to have weighed on confidence."
The survey coincided with the latest Essential Research online poll that found just 15 per cent of voters thought the budget was good for them.
Almost a third said they felt less confident in the government's ability to manage the economy, while nearly half said not enough was done to reduce the deficit.
Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen felt it was the most "haphazardly prepared" budget in many years and has intensified his concerns about Australia's triple-A credit ratings.
He told the National Press Club on Tuesday the top-tier rating with three global credit rating agencies - one of only 10 countries to enjoy such status - is threatened by Mr Morrison "doggedly insisting" Australia doesn't have a revenue problem.
"In an economy where confidence is low and the Reserve Bank has repeatedly expressed concerns about the lack of investment, losing one or all the AAA ratings would be a real body blow to confidence," Mr Bowen said in his budget-reply speech.
Peter Jolly, head of research at the National Australia Bank, says while Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Service were quick to comment on the budget, Standard & Poor's unusually has yet to make any substantive comment other than to say it will look at the details in coming weeks.
"It is at least possible the extra time S&P is taking to make their judgment means Australia's AAA is under more active consideration," Mr Jolly warns in a research note.
But Mr Morrison argues in a very sensitive environment the government has brought down a national economic plan to drive jobs and growth.
The government was not spending more than it saved in a budget that aimed to bring down the deficit.
"That's how you reduce debt ... we have drastically slowed the growth in debt," the treasurer told ABC radio.
Mr Bowen plans a budget review within three months of Labor winning the election on July 2.
The economic forecasts would be updated to reflect a "realistic assessment".
"It will enable us to put our stamp on the economic agenda early in the term," Mr Bowen said, rather than waiting 10 months to the next May budget.
However, he ruled out reinstating the debt ceiling - a measure established by Labor and scrapped by the coalition and Greens which provided a sense of discipline to government borrowings.
