Credit bureau CreditorWatch reported that the pandemic is still having significant negative effects on the Australian economy. Court actions were up 58 per cent in the three months to the end of January, compared with the previous corresponding period. Trade receivables were down 45 per cent in the quarter and commercial credit inquiries fell away heavily. “The boost in trading activity anticipated for the holiday season was dimmed by the arrival of the Omicron variant in the first week of December,” CreditorWatch said. Westpac has agreed to a five-year partnership with Microsoft to develop the bank’s digital and cloud strategies. The bank will invest in Microsoft’s cloud computing service, Azure, with the aim of modernising its technology. Westpac IT staff will be trained on Azure. Westpac group chief technology officer David Walker said all new systems would be based on cloud-native technologies.