Almost half of businessmen believe that legal uncertainty is the main threat to the Spanish economy

MADRID, 17 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Spanish businessmen are confident of growing in terms of turnover, investment and, more moderately, in job creation in 2024, although they show greater concern about the political and regulatory context.

This is demonstrated by the more than 1,350 businessmen and managers who have participated in the 'Perspectives Spain 2024' survey, carried out by KPMG in collaboration with CEOE, which this year reaches its twentieth edition.

The study reflects that 71% of the businessmen surveyed expect their sales to increase in the next 12 months, compared to 70% last year, while 53% will increase their investments, compared to 50% the previous year. For their part, 40% plan to increase their workforce, 2 percentage points more than in 2023.

However, these growth prospects contrast with the concern generated by the current environment. In this sense, when assessing the main threats to the Spanish economy, 48% highlight legal uncertainty, 44% point to political uncertainty and 30% point to regulatory changes.

The president of CEOE, Antonio Garamendi, has warned that companies need a climate "of trust, moderation and understanding, with less uncertainty and with greater regulatory quality and independence of the institutions."

Regarding the current economic situation and its evolution in this year, businessmen and managers are cautious, since 54% of those surveyed rate the economic situation as regular, compared to 57% last year.

Regarding their forecasts for the end of the year, 45% of the participants in the survey anticipate that the Spanish economy will evolve worse or much worse, a percentage similar to that of 2023 (44%), while 41% believe that it will not experience changes .

Although inflation has been contained in recent months, concern about rising prices remains, as almost two in three respondents (63%) say the impact of rising prices on their profit margins has been high or very high in 2023.

Thus, three phenomena related to inflation are positioned as the main threats to the business in the next 12 months: demand risk (34%), the volatility of raw material prices (33%) and interest rates (27%). %).

However, the president of KPMG in Spain, Juanjo Cano, has indicated that businessmen are more concerned about the uncertain economic and geopolitical environment, which is why they demand stability, especially in the regulatory field.

The report also reflects that digitalization and talent are becoming entrenched in corporate agendas as they are not only the two most common strategic priorities among those surveyed, as indicated by 69% in the first case and 60% in the second, but also the two main challenges, with 63% and 62% of the sample, respectively.

Regarding the implementation of generative artificial intelligence, the number of respondents who plan to implement it in their business in the coming months is 37% and doubles that of those who have already done so, which stands at 17%. However, 29% of those surveyed still rule out integrating it into their daily lives.

Regarding the forecasts for corporate operations, these remain similar to those of last year since the percentage of managers who expect to close acquisitions in the next 12 months is 27%, two points more than in 2023.