The UAE leads the world in business confidence and stands alone in positive territory in the global economic survey index, leaving behind the US, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and others on negative side of the index.

This was revealed in the Global Economic Conditions Survey, or GECS, in the second quarter of 2012, undertaken by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, or Acca, and the Institute of Management Accountants, or IMA.

Global economic recovery has again slowed down in early 2012, according to the survey. But finance professionals remained bullish and most confident about the UAE’s recovery.

They cautioned that growth across the world’s most developed economies has stalled once again and that the global economy is as fragile as it has ever been in the last three years. The global survey of 2,700 professional accountants suggests that hints of a stronger recovery in early 2012 were mostly down to misplaced optimism, and that most of the gains made at the time have since been reversed.

The GECS Confidence Index across the region and in selected markets revealed that the UAE has score of 7.9, while rest of the regions and markets covered under the index attracted negative scoring.

Among the markets that were well-represented in the Acca/IMA survey, the UAE remained the most confident, with 35 per cent of respondents here reporting confidence gains (down from 42 per cent), against 27 per cent reporting losses (up from 23 per cent). While the overall loss of momentum is consistent with global trends, it is worth noting than only the UAE recorded net confidence gains in the second quarter of 2012. Not surprisingly, positive attitudes towards the global economy are also more resilient in the UAE than elsewhere, with 46 per cent of respondents thinking the recovery is on track, down from 53 per cent.

Cash flow pressures appear to have eased significantly in the UAE over the last three months, with fewer professionals worrying about the survival of their suppliers or customers, and incidences of late payment are down as well. Importantly, new orders appear to be on the rise.

Earlier this week, HSBC Holdings said non-oil private sector business activity in the UAE continued to expand in July on the back of higher output volumes.