South Korea's business sentiment fell for the first time in three months in January on local economic uncertainties and sluggish sales.
The outlook for February also remains fairly gloomy.
Park Se-young with more.
The nation's overall business sentiment dropped to 78 in January, …down three points from the previous month.
According to the Bank of Korea on Tuesday, the business survey index (BSI) of manufacturers came at 77, …its lowest in eleven months.
The BSI for the electronics sector fell eight points on sluggish smartphone sales, and the figure for the automobile sector slumped by eleven points on decreased car sales amid rising oil prices.
Non-manufacturing BSI inched down one point as the year-end peak season came to an end, and on reduced outdoor activities due to the cold weather and high levels of fine dust.
The outlook for February remained at 78, however, on expectations for the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics and the Lunar New Year holidays.
The BSI of the nation's top 600 firms by sales came to 91-point-eight for February, …marking the 21st straight month that the index has hovered below the benchmark 100.
The Korea Economic Research Institute says local companies remained pessimistic about their business conditions as they expect unfavorable factors due to growing protectionism in major economies and U.S. safeguard measures.
Korean firms are also worried about falling exchange rates amid a rapid run up in oil prices.
The think tank added that business sentiment has been dragged down by structural problems like household debt and rate hike woes.
Park Se-young, Arirang News.
