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The UK’s performance is consistent with a global uplift in confidence, with an optimistic mood in the US combining with a stable outlook in China, India and the Eurozone.
In response to the report Faye Chua, head of business insights at ACCA, says,
'Confidence levels in the UK since the referendum in June have surprised many observers, with consumer spending proving robust and the fall in sterling providing a boost to exporters. Even with the expectation that Article 50 would be triggered by the end of the quarter, businesses are still clearly expecting favourable economic conditions in the short term.
'Yet while this means the UK enters the Brexit negotiations in better shape than anticipated, this only marks the beginning of a long and uncertain process. Once negotiations begin, business will look towards government as well as market conditions for reassurance over longer term impacts.'
Echoing the UK findings, global business confidence rebounded in the first quarter of 2017 and is now at its highest level since the second quarter of 2015. The rise in economic sentiment has been spearheaded by an increasingly confident outlook in North America and is reflected across leading developed and emerging markets. In particular, there has been the fastest rate of growth in global trade since 2015.
Yet the survey has found that inflationary fears are putting pressure on global economies, with nearly half (46%) of firms reporting increasing costs as a cause for concern. Despite this there are significant improvements for employment and investment, with 22% of firms planning to create more jobs and raise capital expenditure - up from 16% and 14% respectively in Q4 2016. [...]