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Maybe it’s the looming gloomy weather.
Global confidence in the economy among accountants and financial professionals dipped in Q3 to its lowest since Q4 2023, according to the latest Global Economic Conditions survey from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Institute of Management Accountants (IMA).
CFOs’ confidence also declined moderately to “below its historical average.”
“The global economy has been quite resilient so far in 2024, but the latest survey of accountants points to some easing in growth at the current juncture,” Jonathan Ashworth, the ACCA’s chief economist, said in a statement.
A (slight) bright spot: Confidence improved among respondents in North America after a decrease in Q2. Even so, “the key indicators for the region look weak by historical standards,” the report noted. “Growth in the US economy is likely to slow over coming quarters, but a soft landing looks [like] the most likely scenario.”
But North America also stood out for a less savory reason. In a year when nearly half of the world’s population will head to the polls and geopolitical uncertainty abounds, North America had the largest proportion of respondents that viewed “economic inflation, recession, and interest rates” as the main risks for Q3.
Considering the report’s findings as a whole, Ashworth stressed that “geopolitical risks are extremely elevated, and significant uncertainty about the upcoming US election could increase corporate caution. Bottom line, businesses are currently operating in a world of heightened uncertainty.”
So, maybe it’s not just the weather.