CEOs confident of strong GDP growth

The amount of Irish-based business leaders who feel that the economy will return to strong consistent growth in the next 12 months has more than trebled since this time last year.

Nearly 70% of company chiefs — responding to a survey by Enterprise Ireland and Deloitte — said they expect strong GDP growth to be evident in 2014. Only 21% of respondents to the same survey, this time last year, had such hopes for 2013.

The survey of 420 people — coinciding with Enterprise Ireland’s CEO Forum in Dublin Castle yesterday — also found that 97% feel that Irish businesses can collectively outperform nations of a similar scale in the global economy.