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Australia’s business leaders are more optimistic about growth than their international counterparts, despite concerns that include over-regulation and the government's response to Australia's fiscal deficit.
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CEO optimism up despite concerns, says PwC
22 January 2015
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According to research conducted by PwC, 43 percent of Australian CEOs are very confident of growth in the next 12 months, up 9 percentage points from last year, compared with 39 percent of CEOs globally. In the longer term, 55 percent were very confident of growth in the next three years, up 21 points from the year before.
However, 60 percent of Australian CEOs believe there are more threats to growth today than there were three years ago, citing over-regulation, the handling of Australia’s debt burden, and cyber-security risks among their top concerns.
According to PwC Australia's CEO, Luke Sayers, the mixed results reflect an uncertain political and legislative environment both in Australia and abroad.
“Both the government and business community understand what’s required in order to secure Australia’s long-term economic future, but unfortunately the current political environment in Canberra isn’t conducive to delivering outcomes,” Mr Sayers said.
“Part of that problem is clearly a difficult Senate, but the broader and more important issue is a failure, by both business and government, to properly communicate the rationale for change to the broader community.
“The next five years will be critical if Australia is to keep its privileged place amongst the world’s advanced economies. Beyond that timeframe, it will get increasingly difficult for Australia to fully participate in, and withstand shocks from, the global economy," Mr Sayers said.
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“We need to see significant movement on the development of social and economic infrastructure to support both our ageing population and participation in the global digital economy. Fundamental reforms, including tax reform, must be addressed.”
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