Forty-six percent of CFOs anticipate the North American economy will be in a recession by 2023, and 39 percent expect it to be in a period of stagflation, according to Deloitte's third-quarter "CFO Signals" report.
Deloitte surveyed 112 CFOs from the U.S., Canada and Mexico from Aug. 1-15, according to the report, released Aug. 29. The majority of those surveyed are from companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue and participation was open to all industries except public sector entities.
Five things to know:
1. CFOs are preparing for the recession by closely managing operating expenses, limiting hiring and boosting productivity, according to the report.
2. To help identify ways to recession-proof their organizations, CFOs are evaluating their customers, services and products.
3. CFOs' concerns over persistent inflation "outweighed angst over the possibility of a recession nearly 3 to 1," according to the report.
4. The percentage of CFOs expressing more optimism for their company's financial prospects dropped to 19 percent in the third quarter of 2022, down from 27 percent in the second quarter.
5. Thirty-three percent of CFOs rated the North American economy as good or very good, down from 52 percent in the second quarter of 2022.
Read the full report here.