Majority of Hungarian CEOs still expect economic growth

Budapest (MTI) – Hungarian chief executives are confident about their company’s growth prospects over the next 12 months but are less optimistic about Hungarian and global economic growth, consulting company PwC said on Thursday based on a survey it conducted in the fourth quarter last year.

PwC found that 89 percent of Hungarian company bosses are confident that their company’s revenue will grow in the next 12 months, 56 percent predicted the Hungarian economy will keep growing but only 39 percent said that the global economy would expand.

In PwC’s previous annual survey 84 percent of CEO’s said their companies revenue would grow, 59 percent said the same about the Hungarian economy and 54 percent predicted global economic growth.

Hungarian and global CEOs are very much of the same mind on growth, threats to growth, and on finding and retaining talent. They are planning to increase headcount, while they continue to be challenged by skills shortages and overregulation, said Nick Kos, PwC Hungary’s Country Managing Partner.

Hungarian CEOs consider Germany the most important country for their company’s growth prospect, with 41 percent of respondents putting it in the top place, followed by the US, Romania, Russia and Slovakia.

Business chiefs worry about the shortage of qualified professionals amid plans to increase headcount over the next year. Only 13 percent of top executives plan to lay off workers, Anita Mekler, a partner at PwC’s Tax and Legal Services noted.

PwC interviewed the CEOs of 186 Hungarian companies between October and December 2016. The survey was conducted in cooperation with national business association MGYOSZ.

Source: MTI