Industry expects slow economic growth in 2011/12

The results of the most recent Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ACCI) Survey of Investor Confidence were released on 7 April 2011 and showed that the electrical and communications contracting industry is expecting the economy to improve only very slow growth in the 2011/12 financial year.

On the key indicators, 71% of contractors said they expected the climate for investment to stay the same or deteriorate. Only 25% of respondents expected higher economic growth (GDP), whereas 97% expected inflation to increase and 69% expected an increase in interest rates.

However, in all categories, a majority of respondents expected their businesses to improve sales and profitability, despite their generally cautious outlook for the rest of the economy; however, only 19% expected to invest more in capital and only 20% expected to have more employees by 2012.

What these Survey results indicate is that most contractors are still highly worried about the pace of economic recovery and are currently not planning to expand their businesses, particularly when there is an expectation of increasing interest rates and wage inflation.

For a full copy of the ACCI Survey of Investor Confidence, click here.