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The findings come following the Goldblatt McGuigan Belfast Telegraph Survey which also found that more than half (59 per cent) of business leaders expressed little or no optimism about the local economy for 2009.
Michael Clarke, director of management consultancy services at Goldblatt McGuigan, said that despite the pessimism, many bosses saw opportunities in the tough times ahead.
"The phrase 'battening down the hatches' seems appropriate to describe the strategy for many surveyed while others, though in no sense looking forward to storms ahead, certainly feel well prepared to weather what the next year will bring," he commented.
In his new year's message, the First Minister of Northern Ireland Peter Robinson has said the country's executive must do more to keep the economy operating.
