IRISH ACCOUNTANTS ARE becoming increasingly pessimistic about the strength of the Irish economic recovery.
Survey results from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) show sentiment dipping across several key indicators.
At the end of June this year, 37% of accountants questions believed that the Irish economy was deteriorating or stagnating, up from 28%. The number of respondents saying that the economy is on the mend fell to 61% from 69%.
On top of this, ACCA said that “more than two years of constant improvement in their expectations of public spending also came to an end, and on balance respondents saw a greater risk of government under-spending in the medium term”.
ACCA Ireland head Liz Hughes said that the slowdown in the global recovery has negatively impacted the prospects for sustained growth in the Irish economy, with demand weakening and access to growth capital being curtailed globally.
As a result of this more pessimistic macro outlook, business investment and capacity building have fallen, even though they have both been recovering strongly over the past two years.
The finance professionals surveyed were more positive about their own companies’ prospects, with only marginal adjustments in responses to the survey.
At the end of the second quarter this year, just 34% of respondents reported confidence gains, down from 36% in the previous quarter. There was also a minor adjustment in the number of respondents reporting a loss of confidence at 22%, down from 23%.
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