Central Europe: Main conclusions
On a general outlook, around three quarters of those surveyed felt the economy in the next year was either going to get worse or remain the same. Going against this trend for caution and pessimism the survey found that business leaders were conversely quite optimistic about the prospects for their individual enterprises, with only around 15% having negative views about the future.
Of the six countries surveyed, Poland is the most bullish about its prospects – both in terms of its economy and from a company perspective. Poland has enjoyed continued consumer demand in comparison to other countries in the region. Croatia, on the other hand, is very pessimistic about the economy (89.7% of negative responses).
On balance, the findings show that although there is still deep-seated negativity about the short-term prospects (six months) across the majority of issues discussed, there are definite signs that positive feelings are slowly beginning to counter-balance this pessimism.
Of the six countries surveyed, Poland is the most bullish about its prospects – both in terms of its economy and from a company perspective. Poland has enjoyed continued consumer demand in comparison to other countries in the region. Croatia, on the other hand, is very pessimistic about the economy (89.7% of negative responses).
On balance, the findings show that although there is still deep-seated negativity about the short-term prospects (six months) across the majority of issues discussed, there are definite signs that positive feelings are slowly beginning to counter-balance this pessimism.