CEOs More Confident On Global Economy, But Not On India Growth: PwC
Enthusiasm for investing in India has lessened compared to last three years,: PwC Survey
Some of the world’s top executives are shrugging off concerns about the global economy. A survey conducted among business leaders shows that confidence is up this year despite the threat of political instability across the globe.
A survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) commissioned to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland has found that business confidence among senior executives has increased since last year. Some 38 percent of those surveyed were confident about their company’s growth prospects this year, according to PwC’s 20th Global CEO Survey.
But India is not where they are looking for growth.
The survey shows that U.S., Germany and U.K. have become bigger priorities for corporate leaders while enthusiasm for investing in Brazil, India, Russia and Argentina has lessened compared to the last three years.
The top 5 most important countries identified for growth are the U.S. (1), China (2), Germany (3), U.K. (4) and Japan (5) with U.K. rising in popularity as a growth destination.PwC 20th Global CEO Survey
Indian CEO though are among the most confident lot when it comes to short-term revenue growth and also have ambitious hiring plans for the next 12 months. 71 percent of those surveyed said they are confident on 12-month growth prospects compared to 64 percent in 2016.
Over half of CEOs (52 percent versus 48 percent in 2016) expect to increase head count over next 12 months. The U.K. (63 percent), China (60 percent), India (67 percent) and Canada (64 per cent) are amongst those with the most ambitious hiring plans.PwC 20th Global CEO Survey
Fifty-five percent of Indian CEOs named the U.S. as the most important country for their company's growth. Thirty percent picked China, 22 percent highlighted the U.K. while 16 percent picked Germany, the survey shows.
Speaking to BloombergQuint's Menaka Doshi on why global CEOs were less confident on India, Bob Moritz, global chairman of PwC said India's reform agenda has failed to take off as per expectations and confidence in other countries have meanwhile begun to rise at India's expense.