Some Australian chief executives are losing confidence about their companies’ growth prospects amid difficult operating conditions and global markets uncertainty, according to a new report.
Just over one third of bosses are very confident they will see revenue growth in the next 12 months, down from 43 per cent last year, according to an annual CEO survey by financial services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
PwC’s 19th annual global CEO survey, launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, found that just 31 per cent of Australian CEOs are expecting an increase in global economic growth this year, down from 38 per cent in 2015.
Around 57 per cent expect growth to remain the same.
Around 49 Australian CEOs, including Wesfarmers boss Richard Goyder and Mirvac CEO Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, were involved in the survey. Some 1,400-plus bosses from around the world also took part.
PwC CEO Luke Sayers said the combination of tough operating conditions, an uncertain global outlook, and the growing fiscal deficit have set up 2016 as a make or break year for Australia’s future prosperity.”
“Australia’s 24 years of uninterrupted economic growth is frequently highlighted, but we mustn’t forget the history of difficult reforms that made this record possible.
“If the next quarter-century is going to look anything like the last, it’s crucial that the lessons of the past are applied. In 2016 we need to see a shared vision and a long-term economic and fiscal plan that outlives the next election cycle,” Sayers said in a statement accompanying the survey results.
In an interview with PwC, Wesfarmers’ Richard Goyder described Australia’s economy as “pretty good”.
“I think there are some risks but its still an economy I’m happy to be doing business in,” Goyder said.
Mirvac’s Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz said the world is changing at a very rapid rate.
“We think about political change globally, think about threats
of terror, mass migration of human beings in Africa and Europe, technological change, political change.
“There’s a great pace of change going on right around the world and so navigating that is a key challenge for businesses and ours in particular,” Lloyd-Hurwitz said.
AAP
