Nine out of ten management accountants have little or no confidence in the government, according to a new survey which described the support as ‘extremely low’.

Only 11% of the 609 accountants surveyed by CIMA said they had confidence in the current administration, with a third saying they did not see the usefulness of some government-backed schemes.

CIMA brand director, Ray Perry, said respondents were unimpressed with Labour’s stimulus policies, citing the reduction in VAT as one example which resulted in increased red tape and little real gain. In the survey 71% of accountants said the government’s 2.5% reduction in VAT ‘has made no change at all to their business performance’.

Companies’ expansion plans have become another casualty, according to the survey which found just under half of accountants believe their company is more reluctant to expand into new markets compared with 12 months ago. ‘Management accountants are so bogged down getting through the day to day that they have had to put expansion plans under wraps,’ said Perry.

There was some optimism, however, with 37% of respondents believing the recession will end by at least June next year, representing a 12% increase on the previous quarter’s figures. Just under half of respondents believed their businesses would survive the downturn, while 38% said they were ‘extremely confident’ of their prospects.