Business confidence among chief financial officers (CFOs) has improved for the third consecutive quarter, according to the latest Deloitte CFO Survey, which saw 34% of CFOs say now is a good time to take risk on to their balance sheets, compared to 25% in Q4 2012 and 13% in the final quarter of 2011.

The Q1 2013 CFO Survey, which gauges the views of 120 chief financial officers, including those from 26 FTSE 100 and 44 FTSE 250 companies, shows that CFOs’ perceptions of macroeconomic and financial uncertainty have dropped to the lowest level for two and a half years. 23% of CFOs say their business faces a high level of external uncertainty - the lowest level since Q2 2011 (21%).

Rising equity markets, exceptionally easy monetary policy and improving financial conditions have contributed to a more positive mood among major UK companies. Credit conditions for large companies have improved for the third consecutive quarter. Over two-thirds (69%) of CFOs say that credit is more readily available, 60% rated credit as cheap and 67% say that bank borrowing is an attractive source of lending, the highest levels recorded since the CFO Survey started in Q3 2007.

Ian Stewart, chief economist at Deloitte, said: “Despite the gloomy coverage around the UK Budget and the crisis in Cyprus, CFOs believe that that the level of economic and financial risk facing their businesses has declined. Corporate appetite for risk is not far off the peaks seen in early 2011 when Europe looked set for a sustained recovery. Reduced stress in financial markets, especially in the euro area, has delivered improvements in credit conditions for big UK corporates. It is a measure of the change that CFOs now rate bank borrowing as offering a more attractive form of finance than at any time since the start of the financial crisis.”