Financial professionals expressed a notable reduction in economic confidence in North America in Q2, with mixed results elsewhere, according to the latest Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants).
The survey shows that confidence declined in the U.S. but was not as marked as North America’s overall fall of almost 20 points. Highlights and the full report are accessible at https://www.imanet.org/about-ima/gecs.
While global confidence declined modestly, it remains higher than a year earlier, and only slightly below its long-term average. “New Orders,” “Employment” and “Capital Expenditure” indices all saw modest declines but only the last is below its average. The survey was conducted prior to the outbreak of war in Israel and Gaza on October 7.
“Overall, the GECS survey remains consistent with some further loss in global economic momentum, although it does not suggest that a downturn is imminent,” said Jonathan Ashworth, chief economist at ACCA. “That said, the risks to global growth are heavily stacked to the downside. These risks include the lagged impact of past monetary tightening, soaring government bond yields, rising oil prices, the Chinese economy, and geopolitics. Accountants should advise their firms or clients to plan accordingly.”
Dr. Susie Duong, senior director of research and thought leadership at IMA, said: “The fall in confidence in North America of almost 20 points stands out. While the fall in the U.S. of nine points was not quite as marked, the Federal Reserve’s aggressive policy tightening clearly appears to be having an impact.”
One focus for accountants will be inflation. Concern about “increased costs” edged back slightly again in the latest quarter. And although cost pressures seem to have peaked, they still remain well above the average recorded over the survey’s history. This suggests that central banks could…
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