Confidence in the global economy by chief financial officers is resulting in a stronger focus on expansion, according to a report released today by Deloitte.
The third quarter Deloitte survey of UK chief financial officers was published today, showing a mood of optimism among UK CFOs.
Deloittes chief UK economist, Ian Stewart, highlighted in the report that expansion was rapidly becoming the top priority for UK CFOs due to fewer risks in the global economy.
He said in the report that the defensive strategies of cost cutting and cash accumulation that saw corporates through the global financial crisis were increasingly out of favour, and that it is “symptomatic of the changed attitude that a record 54% of CFOs say that now is a good time to take risk onto their balance sheet.”
One area where confidence lacked was in the emerging markets. While prospects for growth in the developed world were garnering attention from CFOs, this was not the case for the same markets in the developing world.
However, when looking towards the euro situation, the report showed that CFOs were increasingly confident that the area would hold together and were looking at Europe for expansion.
In a reversal of the situation six months ago, CFOs believed that UK growth would have a more positive effect on their investment plans in the next year than growth in emerging markets.
