Chief financial officers (CFOs) in Switzerland are more optimistic about the near future than they were six months ago. Their main concerns are geopolitical uncertainty and the important trading partners Germany and China. More than half (56%) of over 120 CFOs of Swiss companies surveyed expect the economy to develop positively over the next 12 months, according to the semi-annual CFO survey published on Wednesday by consulting firm Deloitte. This is 15 percentage points more than last autumn. Around 38% of survey participants also rate expectations for Switzerland as neutral and 6% as negative. According to Deloitte, the outlook is therefore “solidly positive, but not euphoric”. CFOs are even more confident about the economy in the US. By contrast, expectations for trading partners Germany (66% negative or very negative) and China (47% negative or very negative) are far more pessimistic than for Switzerland and the US. While the assessment for Germany remained more or less stable ...
