According to the latest Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) Weekly economic report, the banking giant's economics team believe the cash rate will be cut to 0.5% by February 2020.
Given recent economic data and comments by the Reserve Bank, I think there's a good chance that this forecast will prove accurate.
This means that in 2020 interest rates on savings accounts and term deposits are likely to be the lowest they've ever been.
But don't worry, because these top dividend shares could solve your income needs in 2020. Here's why I would buy them:
Lendlease Group (ASX: LLC)
This international property and infrastructure company has been out of form this year, but has been tipped to bounce back strongly in FY 2020. I think this could make it worth considering an investment with a long term view. Especially after the company's recent agreement with tech giant Google. The ~$20 billion project will see the company develop the tech giant's landholdings in San Jose, Sunnyvale and Mountain View into mixed-use communities. I expect this to support solid earnings and dividend growth in the future. At present I estimate that its shares offer a fully franked 4.4% FY 2020 dividend yield.
Scentre Group (ASX: SCG)
Scentre is the owner of the Westfield properties in the ANZ region. I believe it is well-placed to deliver solid income and distribution growth in FY 2020 and over the next few years due to the quality of its properties. Thanks to the millions of visitors to its centres each year, Scentre Group accounts for an incredible 7.5% of all retail sales in Australia. It is no wonder then that the company has an occupancy rate of 99.3%. At present its units offer a 5.7% yield, which I think is very attractive in this low interest rate environment.
Transurban Group (ASX: TCL)
Last week this toll road giant released its full year results and revealed a 26.3% increase in revenue from ordinary activities to $4,166 million and a 12.3% lift in proportional EBITDA excluding significant items increasing to $2,016 million. The company also announced a $700 million equity raising to fund the purchase of the remaining minority interests in M5 West for $468 million. This acquisition is expected to be immediately free cash flow and value accretive. I expect this to support its plan to pay a 62 cents per security distribution in FY 2020, which equates to a 4.1% forward yield.
