96pc of those polled expect modest change or even no growth in economy this year
JEFFIE.LAM@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Friday, 01 April, 2016, 3:07pm
Sixty-six per cent of the Hong Kong chief financial officers surveyed said their spending decisions were affected by the economic and political uncertainty ahead. Photo: AP
Two-thirds of the financial decision-makers polled in Hong Kong said that economic and political uncertainty in the city has caused reduction in spending, with most of them expecting only modest growth, if any, in the economy this year.
The annual survey, conducted by the American Express in November last year, involved 651 senior financial executives across a wide range of industries, with five per cent of respondents coming from Hong Kong.
Sixty-six per cent of the Hong Kong chief financial officers surveyed said their spending decisions were affected by the economic and political uncertainty ahead, and 96 per cent of them expect only a modest change or even no growth in the economy this year, compared to 50 per cent who felt the same way last year.
Confidence in economic growth continued to go downhill, dropping 20 percentage points from last year to 30 per cent. It was 94 per cent in 2013.
With gloomy prospects and uncertainty ahead, half of the executives polled said they would reduce overall spending, 47 per cent said they would increase risk management and security investment, and 37 per cent said they would focus on domestic markets.
Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of the Hong Kong leaders were looking to hire more people, yet 66 per cent of them admitted they faced difficulties in hiring skilled specialists. More than half of them had considered hiring more temporary or contract workers to resolve the talent mismatch.
Stephen Pendergast, American Express vice-president and general manager of global corporate payments for Hong Kong and Taiwan, said the business sector had felt stronger headwinds from the global economic climate in the first quarter of 2016.
“It is important for companies to put in place clear spending and investment plans to make sure every dollar is worth spending,” he said.
“One solution is to streamline existing processes while enhancing payment efficiency in order to avoid bad debts and increase liquidity.”
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1932851/two-thirds-hong-kong-cfos-blame-economic-and-political
