Korea: Business confidence hits multi-year high in April
Business confidence amid manufacturing firms came in at 91.0 in April, up notably from March’s 85.0. April’s result marked the strongest reading since August 2011. As a result, the index moved closer to the 100-point threshold, but still indicated pessimism among businesses.
The improvement came as export-oriented firms turned slightly optimistic, and domestic demand-oriented firms became less pessimistic. In addition, overall sales prospects also became positive. However, despite a broadly positive development regarding expectations, businesses’ outlook on profitability deteriorated slightly.