While Ben Bernanke may have declared the recession technically over, as this article in MarketWatch points out, most finance execs aren’t buying it. Just 11 percent of the nearly 1,000 CFOs, treasurers and the like responding to a survey conducted by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) said that the U.S. is out of the woods.

That’s not all. Only one in five foresees an end to the doldrums by the New Year, while more than two-thirds predict that the recession will drag on into 2010.

Not surprisingly, only 14 percent say that their firms will add employees over the next six months; 22 percent foresee further cuts in head count. The news isn’t much better when it comes to capital spending: only one-fifth anticipate increases here.

On a brighter note, access to financing appears to have become less difficult. Obtaining bank loans was easier for 22 percent of respondents, while nearly one-third said that their firms had seen improved access to the debt markets over the past six months.

The greatest threats to their organizations? A lack of consumer demand and the possibility of a double-dip recession topped execs’ lists, garnering mentions by 30 and 28 percent of respondents, respectively.

AFP surveyed 982 finance executives at a range of firms, most of which had annual revenues of more than $500 million. The survey was conducted at the AFP Conference in early October. ###