Any theories that the global economy is on the road to recovery look more like wishful thinking if ACCA's latest Global Economic Conditions Survey is anything to go by.
The largest number of respondents we have had for a quarterly survey – 1,200 finance professionals in 92 countries – shows that in the third quarter of 2009, while more of us believe the downturn has 'bottomed out', we also believe that a reliable recovery is still more than a year away.
Not surprisingly, there has been a reported rise in late payment as well as supplier and customer bankruptcies. Worryingly, investment in staff fell at an accelerated rate and investment in capital projects, which had previously shown signs of stabilising, seems to be weakening further.
There is good news in some parts of the world, with the Asia-Pacific region, Africa and, to some extent, Central and Eastern Europe reporting much higher levels of business confidence and more optimism than their counterparts in Western Europe and the Americas.
Does this coincide with your experiences – and when do you expect to see a sustainable upturn?
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