CFOs have never felt as bleak about the Australian economy as they do right now
Optimism about the Australian economy has plummeted to record lows leaving top executives increasingly risk averse and preparing for a volatile 12 months.
Deloitte has been surveying chief financial officers from Australia’s top listed companies about their attitudes towards the economy since just after the global financial crisis. And on their measure, this cohort of top executives have never felt as cautious about the future as they do in 2026.
Confidence in the economy, in Deloitte’s own words, experienced a “collapse” to a record low of -36% in its latest biannual CFO sentiment report. Uncertainty spiked back to 93%, completely reversing improvements seen in the prior six months and almost back to its record highs.
Net optimism about business prospects for the next 12 months fell 13 percentage points, down to 50%. This was a striking contrast when compared to the second half of 2025, which saw CFOs start to gain a fresh sense of hope about a recovery.
Now, only 26% of CFOs think it’s a good time to be taking on extra risk and every single one surveyed expects inflation to remain higher than the Reserve Bank would like for the rest of the year.
