19th CEO Survey. Central and Eastern Europe

Within CEE, 48% of CEOs expect continued stagnation in the global economy, similar to the 49% global level and down just slightly from 50% a year ago

But optimism about their own companies is increasing, with 37% saying they’re “very confident” in their prospects for the next 12 months, and 41% for the next 3 years (up from 30% and 37% respectively last year).

Still, almost two-thirds of CEOs say there are more threats than there were three years ago. In particular, CEE business leaders named geopolitical uncertainty as the biggest threat to their companies’ growth prospects, with 86% “extremely” or “somewhat” concerned. That’s a full 12 percentage points above the global average. Also among the top concerns, the government’s response to the fiscal deficit and debt burden was cited by 81% of CEOs in the region (compared with 71% globally).