Southeast Asian business confidence recovers in Q4

CONFIDENCE of business leaders in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, recovered in 2016’s final quarter even as the United States’ move to embrace protectionism worries executives in the broader Asian region, according to a quarterly survey of chief executive officer (CEO) confidence in global markets.

The YPO Global Pulse Confidence Index showed Asia inched up by 1.2 points to 61.2 in the October-December period from the previous quarter.

After slumping in the third quarter to its lowest level in the survey’s seven-year history, Southeast Asia surged 9.4 points to 62.0 last quarter to anchor gains in Asia, which YPO attributed to the rebound in commodity and oil prices.

Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam saw “marked improvements” in economic sentiment.

“It’s encouraging to see that the outlook is still firmly optimistic in each of the major markets and that confidence has quickly returned to most of the developin-frastructure ing economies in the region,” Patrick Siewart, managing director of The Carlyle Group and regional chairman for North Asia of YPO, said in a statement.

Last quarter’s sentiment marked the first time since October 2015 that Asia fell below the global composite score that improved three points to a twoyear-high 62.2.

American CEOs were the most confident, rising 4.2 points — the largest single-quarter gain in five years — to 64.6, while the European Union steadied at 60.9.

“Clearly, there will be some concerns about the potential impact of a more protectionist US economic policy on global trade and a strong US dollar, and chief executives in Asia will be monitoring the situation carefully over the coming months,” Mr. Siewart said. —