Indian CEOs optimistic about economic growth despite pandemic uncertainty

CEOs in India are optimistic about the prospects of a stronger economy going ahead despite the uncertainty surrounding the Covid 19 pandemic. According to the PwC 25th Annual Global CEO Survey, 99 per cent of CEOs in India believe that the country's economic growth will improve over the next 12 months.

94 per cent of India's CEOs are optimistic about global economic growth for the next 12 months, compared to 77 per cent of global CEOs.

Between October November 2021 and October 20,21, 4,446 CEOs were polled in 89 countries and territories. This includes insights from 77 CEOs from India.

The optimism of India's CEOs has gone up from 88 per cent last year about the prospects for economic growth in 2022, but for most of the time, CEOs are not as optimistic as they were last year about the prospects for economic growth.

Sanjeev Krishan, Chairman, PwC in India said, While Omicron has cast a shadow and CEOs are focused on the health and safety of their employees at the moment, CEO confidence and optimism over the past year is testimony to the resilience of Indian companies. The vigour with which most Indian business leaders took the challenges brought in by the Pandemic head-on, coupled with the will to emerge stronger in the face of adversity, has resulted in sustained growth for businesses in India. 97 per cent of India's CEOs are confident in their company's prospects for revenue growth not only in the near term but also over the next three years because of the futuristic groundwork done during the difficult times. The threats that CEOs are most worried about as the epidemic continues, shows that leaders are under pressure to deliver top-line results.

Global CEOs are concerned about the global health situation and macroeconomic volatility, including the fluctuations in GDP, unemployment, and inflation. Health risks 89 per cent are the main concerns that they feel will have a negative impact on their top-line, which can hinder their ability to sell products and services, according to Indian CEOs.

Krishan said business leaders are under pressure to deliver top-line results after a challenging year. It will require them to take proactive steps to mitigate current and future risks such as technology, cyber security, talent or health.

The highly uncertain environment in which we are in and that will define what kind of world we live in and hand down to the next generation, he said.

The strategy is mainly driven by business metrics, both in India and globally, despite rising interest in ESG. Most CEOs have goals that are related to non-financial outcomes such as customer satisfaction, employee engagement and automation or digitisation included in their long-term strategy.

In addition to this, 78 per cent of India's CEOs, compared to 54 per cent of global CEOs, include automation and digitisation goals in their strategy.