MALAYSIAN ACCOUNTANTS AMONG MOST OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ECONOMY, SAYS ACCA

KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 (Bernama) -- Malaysian finance professionals are among
the most confident and optimistic that global economic conditions are either
improving or about to for the second quarter of 2010, according to a survey by
the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

Economic recovery in Malaysia continued at a fast pace, with accountants
here rivalling their colleagues in China for confidence and optimism and gross
domestic product (GDP) growing at extremely high rates, the ACCA said in a
statement Friday.

"A full 63 per cent of the Malaysian sample, up from 54 per cent in early
2010, believe the global economy is recovering or about to," the association
said.

"Although the largest percentage of ACCA's Malaysian sample (47 per cent)
reported no change in their levels of business confidence, another 35 per cent
(up from 25 per cent in the first quarter) recorded confidence gains," it said.

ACCA said while more members worldwide were now optimistic about economic
prospects, majority of the 2,200 finance professionals responding to the survey
continued to have doubts about the apparent improvements.

"Nearly a third of all respondents are now reporting problems with an
increase in operating costs, with small businesses and not-for-profit
organisations hardest hit. These cost pressures are most keenly felt in Africa,
South Asia and Asia Pacific," said ACCA senior policy adviser Manos Schizas.

"The survey also shows that the 'front seats in the recovery' in the world's
faster growing economies are becoming increasingly uncomfortable for
accountants," he said.

-- BERNAMA



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