Survey: CEO confidence plummets to new low

Special Report: Premier Wen's "trip of Confidence" to Europe



Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 28 (Chinese media) -- Battered by

recession, CEO's confidence about future prospects for business has plummeted

and they expect only a slow, gradual recovery over the next three years,

according to an annual survey released on Wednesday.

Worldwide, just 21 percent of CEO's said they were

very confident of revenue growth in the next 12 months, down from 50 percent in

last year's survey, said the 12th Annual global CEO Survey conducted by

PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The survey, released by the British accounting firm

at the 2009 World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, said more than a

quarter of business CEOs were pessimistic about prospects for the coming year.

CEOs worldwide were also gloomier about longer term

growth as well, predicting a slow recovery, said the survey, which was based on

interviews with 1,124 CEOs in 50 countries during the last quarter of 2008.

Only 34 percent of CEOs said they were very confident

of growth over the next three years, down from 42 percent last year, when CEOs

were just beginning to recognize the full impact of the credit crisis on the

global economy.

"The speed and intensity of the recession has rocked

the psyches of CEOs and created a global crisis of confidence," said

PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global CEO Samual DiPiazza, Jr..

"CEOs are most concerned about the immediate survival

of their companies. Even in once rapidly emerging economies, companies are now

coping with issues like unavailable credit, sluggish capital markets, and

collapsing demand," he said.

The impact of the recession in the world's major

economies, cited by 85 percent of survey respondents worldwide, continued to

dominate concerns of CEOs and was the only risk factor to increase among CEO's

concerns, the survey said.

Other major risk factors included disruption in the

capital markets, cited by 72 percent, over-regulation, 55 percent, energy costs,

50 percent, and availability of key talent, 46 percent, it added.