NAB’s 2020 full-year cash profit has tumbled 37% to $3.6 billion as the cost of tackling COVID eats into margins and blows out costs.

However, CEO Ross McEwan has told Money News host Brooke Corte he’s confident Australia is set for a business-led recovery with NAB offering its full support.

“We’re starting to see the country open up domestically and every time that happens we see more growth starting to appear, which means businesses getting back into business, and jobs start getting created again,”

“I’m very optimistic about Australia and New Zealand, I think these are two countries that people are going to want to live in,”

Mr McEwan has said the lifting of lockdowns in Melbourne and the upcoming reopening of the border between New South Wales and Victoria will be great for growth.

“In the five days since Victoria reopened, we’ve seen dollar spend at physical stores up near 50%, we’ve general retail spend increase by 82%, we’ve seen clothing – wait for it – up 1,647%,” he said.

Click play to hear the full interview: