AKIPRESS.COM - Global chief executives are more pessimistic about growth than this time last year, according to a survey.

Only 27% of interviewees thought growth would improve, against 37% in 2015, the report by consultants PwC showed, reports BBC.

Business leaders are increasingly worried about geopolitical risks, as well as China's economic slowdown and the falling oil price.

The findings chime with a report by International Monetary Fund report that downgraded global growth forecasts.

The IMF said on Tuesday that it now predicts economic activity to expand by 3.4% this year, down from an estimate of 3.6% in October.

PwC's survey, released ahead of the annual World Economic Forum, held at Davos, in the Swiss Alps, interviewed more than 1,400 chief executives across 83 countries.

"There's no question that business leaders' confidence in both the global economy and their own company growth prospects has taken a knock," said Dennis Nally, global chairman of PwC.

"No matter what the business size, the threats it faces are becoming more complex, crossing the borders of geopolitical, regulation, cyber security, societal developments, people and reputation," he said.

In recent weeks, stock markets across the world have gone into reverse, fuelled in part by concerns about the economic damage that lower oil prices might do.

Last week, energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie estimated that energy companies have shelved almost $400bn of spending on new oil and gas projects since the price of oil began tumbling about 18 months.