AUSTRALIAN EXECUTIVES UNCERTAIN ABOUT ECONOMIC FUTURE: SURVEY.

AsiaPulse News, May, 2003

MELBOURNE, May 5 Asia Pulse - Australia's leading executives are feeling increasingly uncertain about the nation's economic future, according to an annual poll by accountants Ernst & Young.

The "budget barometer" of 100 of Australia's top 1,000 companies, taken ahead of the May federal budget, also said 49 per cent of the executives believed that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) was not properly implementing the Howard government's business tax reform agenda.

The poll found that 45.3 per cent of executives were uncertain about the future of the economy, 17.9 per cent were pessimistic and 36.8 per cent were optimistic.

Two years ago, 51.7 per cent were optimistic, 30.3 per cent were pessimistic and only 18 per cent were uncertain.

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