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S. Korea's business confidence remains weak on sluggish demand

Xinhua, September 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

Confidence among South Korean businesses remained weak due to sluggish domestic demand that has rattled the economy in the past years, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The business survey index (BSI) for manufacturers stood at 68 in September, unchanged from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The index, which gauges expectations for business conditions, means that pessimists outnumber optimists when it stays below 100.

The October BSI for manufacturers, which measures business outlook in the next month, came in at 70, down one point from the prior month.

The sluggish figures came on the back of the protracted weakness in domestic demand caused by the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) earlier this year and the sinking of the Sewol ferry disaster last year that claimed hundreds of lives from high school students.

The BSI for non-manufacturers was 70 in September, unchanged from the previous month. The October BSI for non-manufacturers also made no change at 73. Endi