CEOs see 37% recession chance

Leading Wall Street chief executives predicted a 37% chance of a U.S. economic recession in the next 12 months, according to a survey released Wednesday.

In April, when the previous Financial Services Forum semiannual survey was conducted, the executives saw only a 24% chance of a recession in the coming 12 months.

The forum is a policy group made up of the chief executives of 20 of the world’s largest financial institutions, including Citigroup Inc., Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group and MetLife Inc.

The executives said they expected slower U.S. economic growth over the next year because of the housing slowdown, credit market turmoil and higher energy prices.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan this month put the odds of a recession at less than 50%. A Reuters survey of 56 private economists this week found the majority saw the chance of a U.S. recession at 21% to 30%.

The Financial Services Forum executives also cut their expectations for economic growth.

The forum’s U.S. economic growth index fell from 2.03 in the April survey to 1.27 in October. The growth index represents sentiment on a scale ranging from minus 5 for strong economic contraction to zero for no growth to 5 for robust growth.