Korea: Business confidence unchanged for January, propped up by the domestic economy
December 28, 2017
The Bank of Korea’s forward-looking business confidence indicator (BSI) for the manufacturing sector remained unchanged from December for January at 82 points. As a result, the indicator sat below the 100-point threshold for January, signaling another month of pessimism among Korean firms.
Although the BSI was unchanged overall for January, the index components varied: Business sentiment among export-orientated firms deteriorated for the month, while domestic-orientated firms reported an improvement. Businesses grew more optimistic regarding sales volumes and input prices in January, but less positive regarding sales prices. Profitability, meanwhile, was expected to be no different in January than in December.
Non-manufacturing businesses—the mainstay of the Korean economy—reported weaker confidence for January than they did for December.
Author: Edward Gardner, Economist