Financial executives' confidence in U.S. economic growth this year declined sharply this summer, with many executives concerned that several economic and political factors could negatively impact the economy, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch CFO Outlook released today.

Only 36 percent of the executives surveyed say they expect the economy to expand in 2012, down from 63 percent of executives surveyed in the spring.

At the same time, 13 percent of CFOs said they expect the economy to contract, compared to only 4 percent in the previous survey.

The latest responses are similar to the CFO Outlook survey conducted in the fall of 2011, when only 38 percent of executives said they expected economic expansion this year, according to the bank.

Economic and political factors CFOs listed as potentially having a negative impact upon on the U.S. economy this year include: the effectiveness of U.S. government leaders; the U.S. budget deficit; healthcare costs; global market unrest; U.S. unemployment levels; consumer confidence; and oil prices.

The biggest increases in potential negative impacts upon the economy came in global market unrest, up from 24 percent in the spring, and U.S. unemployment levels, up from 39 percent. Never in the history of the CFO Outlook survey have executives voiced significant concern about this many factors.

"The combination of uncertainly and volatility have understandably made CFOs more cautious as the year progressed," said Laura Whitley, head of Global Commercial Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in a prepared statement. "While many CFOs remain optimistic that their own companies will grow, they recognize there are many factors out of their control, and significant concerns remain about the outlook for the economy the rest of this year."

Other survey findings include:

CFOs gave the current U.S. economy an average score of 53 out of 100, the same as in the spring, while giving the global economy a score of 45, down from 47.

Confidence in their own companies' 2012 performance was down among CFOs, with 60 percent forecasting higher revenues, down from 64 percent in the spring, and 44 percent expecting higher profit margins, down from 50 percent.

Hiring expectations also dipped, with 46 percent of CFOs predicting more hiring this year, down from 51 percent in the previous survey.

CFOs' top financial concerns within their own companies were healthcare costs, revenue growth, cash flow and consumer confidence-all up from the spring.

The top internal barriers to growth cited by CFOs were: An inability to change strategy in response to fluctuations in the industry or customer demand, operational inefficiencies and a limited supply of qualified workers

The survey was conducted by Granite Research Consulting based on interviews of 250 CFOs, finance directors and other executives who were selected randomly from U.S. companies with annual revenues between $25 million and $2 billion. Interviews were conducted from mid-June to mid-July.

-Jim McConville