Finance professionals more confident

Canadian finance professionals grew more optimistic about the global economy in the first half of 2013. This is despite tightening domestic conditions, finds a survey from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA).

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“Demand and cash-flow conditions continued to tighten in Canada in the first six months of the year, and access to growth capital appears to have become harder,” says Emmanouil Schizas, ACCA senior economic analyst. “Despite these conditions, there is optimism emerging, especially for the wider, global economy. Canada’s finance professionals are slightly more optimistic than they were this time a year ago, with 46% believing the economy is recovering or about to do so, up from 42%.”

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Confidence in the prospects for Canada’s businesses stabilized. In the first half of the year, 33% of respondents in Canada report a loss of confidence in the prospects for their organizations, down from 39% over the previous six months.

“Canada’s businesses are clearly looking forward to better days,” says Suzanne Godbehere, head of ACCA Canada. “What is holding Canadian business confidence up could be the reported recovery in capacity building, and the perceived rise in available investment opportunities.”

The global picture

On a global scale, the survey found that both business confidence and optimism about the economy continued to rise during the second quarter of the year.

Read: 6 quotes to make you a better investor Nearly half feel the state of the economy was improving or about to do so (up from 43% in early 2013), while 50% were pessimistic (down from 54%). This is the highest level of optimism about national and global economies in two years, and the strongest year-on-year improvement in three years. The survey shows there was improved availability of growth capital on a global scale in the second quarter of 2013. This helped drive confidence upwards.

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“Globally, this is not a recovery for everyone,” says Schizas. “But if this new found dynamism persists beyond a couple of quarters, it could build its own momentum, independent of monetary policy.

He adds, “And while employment is recovering quickly and is now stronger than at any point in the last two years, the quality of jobs created has also improved since Q1, being more closely tied to demand and the financial health of customers.”

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.