CFO Optimism

An opportunity in uncertain times

Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) interviewed for the Deloitte Middle East CFO Survey were confident as to improving business conditions in the near-term. They were optimistic about demand for their company’s goods and services, improving operating cash flows and the increasing attractiveness of private equity and M&A opportunities in the next year, underpinned by relatively strong regional GDP growth forecasts compared to other parts of the world for 2010.

Whether this rosy outlook is realistic or not, some facts remain: business will continue and it will do so in an increasingly competitive, complex and changing environment, and the CFO role has never been as critical for the survival of the company. The CFO, in this context, is forced toward the forefront of their organization, both, as an administrator of change from a governance perspective and by serving as an analyst and strategist in interpreting the changing external environment.