Optimism among chief financial officers about the regional economy in Asia (not counting China) fell, with optimists and pessimists now evenly balanced. Last quarter, optimists outnumbered pessimists by two to one. In China, 69 percent of firms have grown more pessimistic about the economic outlook.

These are some of the findings of the most recent Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook Survey.

The top internal concerns among Asian CFOs are difficulty in planning due to extreme uncertainty, working capital management and employee morale. The top external concerns in Asia are global financial instability, intense pricing pressure and weak consumer demand. Chinese CFOs also worry about government policies.

Full-time domestic employment in Asia is expected to increase by about 7 percent in 2011 and wages will also rise by about 7 percent. Capital spending will increase by more than 10 percent.

Asian manufacturing firms expect capacity utilisation to rise to more than 90 percent by year-end.

More than 60 percent of Asian firms say they will begin to deploy cash in the coming year, primarily on capital spending, hiring and benefits, paying down debt and marketing.

U.S. CFOs: No Double-Dip Recession
Chief financial officers don’t foresee a double-dip recession, but doubts about the strength of the economy have pessimists outnumbering optimists by more than five to one in the United States.

Business spending is expected to grow, though more slowly than last quarter, and hiring will continue at a sluggish pace.

CFO optimism plunged in the third quarter, with 65 percent of U.S. executives growing more pessimistic, compared with 12 percent who grew more optimistic. European and Chinese optimism also dropped dramatically, with pessimists outnumbering optimists by more than four to one. Optimism in the rest of Asia (not including China) also fell, though by a smaller margin.