Korea: Forward-looking business confidence falls further into pessimism for February
For February, the Bank of Korea’s forward-looking business confidence indicator (BSI) for manufacturers fell to 65 from the 71 for January, leaving it below the crucial 100-point threshold separating pessimism from optimism, where it has been since June 2011. However, this latest outturn represents the most pessimism reading since March 2016.
A breakdown of the BSI components shows that businesses became more downbeat about sales, profitability and raw material purchase prices for February than they were for January. Businesses held unchanged perceptions of sale price prospects for February compared to January. Meanwhile, confidence among non-manufacturing businesses moderated to 70 for February from 72 for January.