South Korea’s business sentiment improved for May amid a steady recovery in exports, which offsets a slowdown in private spending, a central bank poll showed Thursday.
Local companies’ business sentiment index (BSI) stood at 73 for the coming month, up from 71 the previous month, according to the survey by the Bank of Korea.
The index measures corporate prospects for business conditions in the following month. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists.
The central bank said business sentiment rose as exports are likely to continue their upward trend.
The BSI for manufacturers came to 74 for May, up 1 point from the previous month. The index for nonmanufacturing firms rose 2 points to 71 over the same period, the data showed.
The country’s outbound shipments moved up for the sixth consecutive month in March on the back of the robust performance of chips.
Exports gained 3.1 percent on-year to US$56.5 billion last month, while imports decreased 12.3 percent on-year to $52.2 billion last mont
h, resulting in a trade surplus of $4.28 billion. South Korea has been maintaining a trade surplus for 10 consecutive months.
Source: Yonhap News Agency