Indian CEOs are the most optimistic in the world on revenue growth, and the country’s citizens are among the optimistic about prosperity for the next generation, says a Gallup poll. The survey finds that ninety percent of Indian chief executives, the highest among all countries, said they expect strong revenue growth for their companies in the next 12 months.

In the U.S., a mere 36 percent of the executives said they were very confident, though the figure exceeded those of Japan, France, and Italy. The survey that interviewed 1,150 CEOs around the world also asked whether they agreed with certain statements about business leaders and found a wide variety of opinions.

Business leaders were generally viewed as more competent than political leaders, but many also saw them as dishonest. In the U.S., 49 percent business executives thought they were dishonest, while 25 percent did not think they were competent. The country with the highest regard for its business leaders appeared to be Britain, where only 19 percent viewed them as dishonest, and 13 percent doubted their competence.

India is somewhere in the middle, where about 39 percent said their business leaders are dishonest, and 21 percent believed them to be not capable and competent.

In another survey, conducted by the Gallup International Voice of the People and PricewaterhouseCoopers, among over 60,000 people the world over 47 percent of the general public in India said they expect the next generation to be prosperous while 25 percent said it would be less prosperous. Only 27 percent Americans expect the next generation to be more prosperous, while a high 43 percent expect less prosperity.

The survey conducted in the last quarter of 2007 by Gallup International Voice of the People and PricewaterhouseCoopers finds that the public outlook in the developing world is much more optimistic than in the developed world.