Excessive red-tape CEOs’ top gripe

Excessive regulation has become the top concern among international CEOs for the first time since 2006, despite efforts to simplify and improve the quality of existing and new legislation.

The latest global CEO survey — conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers — shows confidence amongst business chiefs in Europe is waning; with 27% “very confident” about short-term revenue growth, compared to 30% at the same time last year.

Furthermore, Europe’s CEOs are less confident than their counterparts in the US; with 34% upbeat about revenue growth over the next three years, compared to 46% of their transatlantic cousins.

The findings also show European CEOs feel they would not cope as well as they currently are, should there be any break-up of the eurozone. Concerns over how debt-laden governments will address their budget deficits and the prospect of continuing economic volatility remain big concerns.

“Our survey shows that CEOs — globally and in Europe — are generally focusing on shorter-term challenges; that they expect economic difficulties to continue, and that they are concerned about building resilience into their organisations — both to meet those challenges and seize future opportunities,” said Ronan Murphy of PwC Ireland.

Even though prospects for Chinese economic growth are good, European chiefs feel they could cope better than their global counterparts should China’s GDP fall below 7.5%. “This, according to PwC, “may indicate that opportunities in this market may not be of immediate interest to many in Europe”.