Global executives concerned about future, says report

Despite evidence of economic improvement around the world, a new report has suggested global business leaders are currently less optimistic about the future than they were in March 2009.

The Boston Consulting Group's survey found half of the participating executives now expect an "L-shaped" recovery, compared with just 17 per cent in March last year.

Japanese executives were shown to be the most pessimistic, with 72 per cent antipicating a particularly slow and difficult recovery from the global economic downturn.

In comparison, only 52 per cent of business leaders in France are expecting the recession to be L-shaped.

This may reflect the fact that the prolonged period of stagnation experienced by Japan in the 1990s is usually characterised by economists as an L-shaped recession.

However, report co-author and senior partner at the consultancy Daniel Stelter said executives from all over the world appear to be "less enthusiastic about the economic outlook than many of their governments".

He added: "The world view we're hearing from executives is hardly one conducive to job creation, investment and risk-taking."