Despite some regional governments speaking of expected growth in 2023, almost 75 per cent of global Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) are predicting declines.
According to PricewaterhouseCooper’s 26th Annual Global CEO Survey, which polled 4,410 CEOs in 105 countries and territories in October and November 2022, nearly three-quarters (73%) of CEOs believe global economic growth will decline over the next 12 months.
However, the number is a tad lower (62%) for CEOs in the Caribbean specifically, but it is still the belief of well over half of the region’s leadership.
In a press release from PwC, it is stated that, “The bleak CEO outlook is the most pessimistic CEOs have been regarding global economic growth since we began asking this question 12 years ago.
“Those expectations represented a stark reversal from the last Caribbean participation in the survey conducted between late 2020 and early 2021, when a similar proportion (69%) thought economic growth would improve.”
No growth over the next 10 years in the Caribbean region?
Looking beyond 2023, the picture is not improving in the minds of Caribbean CEOs, with 30% of Caribbean CEOs thinking their organisations will not be economically viable in a decade. And they are not blaming the economic climate alone. “In addition to a challenging environment, nearly one-third of Caribbean CEOs think their organisations will not be economically viable in a decade if they continue on their current path.
“The pattern is consistent with global (39%) and Latin America (29%) though slightly higher than the US (20%), UK (22%) and Canada (24%). Caribbean CEOs’ confidence in their own company’s growth prospects also declined dramatically (by over 40%) with less than half being very or extremely confident compared to the survey conducted in 2020 where almost 80% were either somewhat confident or very confident about their organisation’s prospects for revenue growth over the next year.”
So what do CEOs think will hurt the bottom line most?
CEOs are also seeing multiple direct challenges to profitability within their own industries over the next 10 years. The highest contributing factor highlighted by 76% of the surveyed population, is changing customer demand/preferences. It is believed this will impact profitability most, followed by changes in regulation (64%) and technology disruptions (60%).
Inflation, macroeconomic volatility and climate change top CEOs’ concerns
While cyber and health risks were the top concerns for Caribbean CEOs the last time they participated in the survey, the impact of the economic downturn is top-of-mind for CEOs this year, with inflation (50%) and macroeconomic volatility (36%) leading the risks weighing on CEOs in the short-term – the next 12 months – and over the next five years. Close behind, 26% also feel financially exposed to climate change rising to be the top threat over the next five years. Cyber risks have fallen dramatically to just 14% and although they increase to 26% in the medium term, CEOs need to continue to show their commitment to stay ahead of cyber challenges that are still very much on the rise, so they safeguard their business against attacks.