The ACEO/ICAP-CEO General Index fell significantly to 123 points in the first quarter of 2020, hit by the coronavirus pandemic and the economic lockdown imposed by the government. The survey, conducted in the period March 13-31 on a sample of 2,540 CEOs/general managers of the largest Greek enterprises by the Association of Chief Executive Officers in cooperation with ICAP, showed that the current status index and the expectations index both fell significantly during the first three months of the year. The current status index dropped to 187 points from 267 in the previous quarter, with the percentage of CEOs saying that the country’s economic status improved dropping to 38 pct from 77 pct in the previous quarter. The percentage of CEOs saying that the country’s economic status has worsened soared from 2.0 pct to 42 pct. The percentage of CEOs saying the country’s economic status will be better in the next year fell to 19 pct from 94 pct in the previous quarter, while 61 pct of CEOs said conditions will be worse. Twelve percent of CEOs said they were unable to make any forecasts for next year. Thirty-one percent of CEOs said their sector’s current status was better compared with a year ago, while 41 pct said conditions were worse. The expectations index fell to 126 points from 222 points in the previous quarter, while the current status index of enterprises dropped to 105 points from 135 points. The expectations index of CEOs over the economic condition of their enterprise next year dropped to 88 points from 180 in the previous quarter. The employment index eased to 109 points from 123 points. Almost nine in 10 CEOs said the coronavirus pandemic will have a high-level negative impact on the Greek economy.
