American CEOs: US economy remains gloomy, tax code uncompetitive

Indicating a bleak situation for the US economy, the American Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) are not willing to spend more in 2016.

The US economy may not be promising for majority of top officials leading the US corporate firms. And the positive news is that corporate investments will continue in R&D, new equipment and hiring that'll keep pushing the growth upwards.

CEOs opine that the US tax code is uncompetitive.

Next year is likely to be another ho-hum year for the US economy, according to a latest survey carried out by Business Roundtable and PwC. It's estimated that the business investments will drop to such a low level since 2009 financial crisis.

According to report by CNN Money, majority of CEOs are not planning to spend more in the US economy. However, some business leaders are with positive forecasts about the US economy. They're prepared to spend in new equipment, research and development (R&D) and hiring activities.

Randall Stephenson, CEO at AT&T, said: "To see that sharp decline in capital investing is alarming. Investment drives hiring. It drives productivity and wage growth." Stephenson chaired the Business Roundtable CEO meeting.

The regulation and tax code have been the prime concerns among the US CEOs for the past four years as Business Wire reported.

A majority of CEOs considers these flaws are resulting in increasing cost pressure. The Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook index dropped to 67.5 in the fourth quarter of 2015 from 74.1 in the previous quarter. 

PwC sees increasing pessimism among CEOs in the latest survey involving over 200 executives from the private industry. The survey identifies that business confidence in the US economy is fast dropping.

The unexpected Yuan depreciation in August and subsequent global market crash are impacting the way CEOs think.

In the survey report by PwC published on WSOM 600 site, about a quarter of respondents said they have major plans for investment. It was down from the previous survey. In the previous poll, about 36 percent were in favor of new investments.

A little above half of the executives said they're planning to do more hiring. The number of executives preferring to hire also decreased this time.

Blaming it on the slowdown in the global economy and Washington, Stephenson said that CEOs were frustrated over the delayed action on corporate tax reforms. A smarter approach to regulation will take the US economy off. The reforms in tax structure will only improve job market. 

Stephenson said that the US tax code was uncompetitive and many business firms might leave the US to a tax haven.

"When you have companies moving headquarters to avoid the US tax system, it tells you something is fundamentally wrong," said Stephenson