Saudi Arabia has the highest level of investor confidence in the region, according to latest survey of HSBC Holdings Plc. Saudi Arabia scored 97, the highest level since 2007, while the United Arab Emirates' index is 78.4, the HSBC GCC Business Confidence Survey said on Monday. The overall index climbed by more than 15 points to 86 from the first quarter of 2009, HSBC said. “These results show a mood of realistic optimism in the GCC,” Simon Vaughan Johnson, regional head of Commercial Banking Middle East North Africa said in the statement. “Many companies are doing better than they were 12 months ago, but they do not see another boom on the horizon,” he added. This realistic perspective is predicting steady and sustainable growth. Of the 1,491 respondents to the online survey, 33 percent plan to increase investment, 43 percent expect higher business turnover and 40 percent predict a rise in net income in 2010, HSBC said. A score below 100 indicates confidence is lower than the first quarter of 2007, the report added.
