Global recession is a top concern among Asia Pacific business leaders - JPMorgan survey

Business decision-makers in Asia Pacific cite the prospect of a global recession and the impact of trade tariffs as the biggest risks for their companies in the next six to 12 months, according to a survey from J.P. Morgan.

Around 30% of chief financial officers and group treasurers in the region belonging to 130 global companies said they felt a potential global recession posed the biggest risk to their businesses in a poll conducted at the 2019 J.P. Morgan Asia Pacific CFO and Treasurers Forum in Shanghai.

The impact of global trade tariffs was a top concern for about 27% of the respondents, while 24% said they were worried about a slowdown in emerging markets, 10% revealed cyber threats were a primary worry and 9% pointed to Brexit and the future of the eurozone.

“The concerns over the impact of headwinds in the global macro environment are front and center in the minds of the top CFOs and treasurers of global corporations,” Oliver Brinkmann, head of corporate banking for Asia Pacific at J.P. Morgan, said in a statement.

“While J.P. Morgan’s view is not for a recession, growth is expected to slow in the coming quarters, with global growth for 2019 forecast at 2.7 percent and dipping to 2.5 percent in 2020,” he wrote.