Croatian financial directors do not expect economic growth this year; instead, the majority anticipate stagnation, according to the results of a survey of financial directors in 14 Central European countries conducted by the consulting firm Deloitte, presented today.
In the survey, conducted in April of this year, 38 financial directors from Croatian companies participated, and none of them expect the Croatian economy to grow this year.
The majority of respondents, 58 percent, expect stagnation, while 42 percent believe that the recession will continue into 2013, said Juraj Moravek, a partner responsible for financial institutions at Deloitte’s Audit Department.
Among the 14 countries surveyed, only Slovenian financial directors are more pessimistic, as they also do not expect growth, but mainly (70 percent) a recession or stagnation (30 percent). On the other end of the spectrum are Estonian directors, among whom 77 expect growth of 1.5 to 3 percent, and 16 percent expect growth above 3 percent.
The majority of surveyed Croatian managers, nearly 74 percent, also expect a continuation of rising unemployment this year, and less than half of them (42 percent) view their company’s financial outlook optimistically, making them reluctant to take business risks.
