Indian CEOs most optimistic in the world, says PwC

The chief executive officers (CEOs) of Indian companies have emerged as the most optimistic lot in the world when it comes to expectations for improvement in global economy this year and revenue prospects of their own businesses in the longer term.

The high confidence levels of Indian CEOs is in sharp contrast to the declining confidence level of CEOs across the world in their own businesses as well as for the broader economic scenario, an annual global CEO survey conducted by consultancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and released here last night on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual meeting showed.

The CEOs confidence level is very high in India also in terms of hiring people for their companies, while the percentage of CEOs having overseen job cuts in their companies during the past year is the lowest in India, the survey said.

Announcing the results of its 16th annual CEO survey, which is released every year in this Swiss ski resort town during the WEF summit, PwC said that the CEOs are also getting about finding the right talent for their businesses, lack of stability in stock markets, the government response to fiscal deficit, as also growing regulatory and tax burden.

Globally, 36 per cent of CEOs said they are 'very confident' of their company's growth prospects in 2013. This is down from 40 per cent last year and 48 per cent in 2011.

About the overall economic scenario, 28 per cent CEOs expect further downtrend in the global economy this year, while only 18 per cent expected an improvement and more than 50 per cent expected it to  remain same.

However, the confidence level has improved on this front, as 48 per cent of CEOs expected a decline in global economy last year.