A study by Deloitte has found that chief financial officers are planning on making cutbacks and reducing investments just six months after they had predicted things would improve in mid 2009.

The quarterly survey of chief financial officers found that 97% believed that price demand was prohibitive and costly compared to just 59% in the same period last year.

Over 80% of those polled were planning on cutting spending including travel, hotels and entertainment, with the vast majority admitting they were planning to make redundancies, not replace people who had left, and reduce investment.

Margaret Ewing, Deloitte vice-chairman said: 'Companies now recognise that the supply of credit won’t come back in the next six to nine months, so they are taking action to cut costs to preserve cash for next year.'

'Most CFOs recognise that cash has to be king – and investors are now focusing on cash flow rather than the profit and loss account' she added.

The quarterly survey of chief financial officers found that just six months ago the majority of those polled predicted that things would improve by mid 2009.

Further reading:

Most CFOs see little relief ahead