Korea: Forward-looking business confidence moderates for April
The Bank of Korea’s forward-looking business confidence indicator (BSI) for the manufacturing sector fell to 78 points for April from 82 points for March. The indicator remained below the 100-point threshold for April, signaling another month of pessimism among Korean manufacturers.
The indicator components showed that, for April, businesses reported lower sales expectations than they did for March; they were also more pessimistic regarding raw material purchasing prices and sales prices. Meanwhile, manufacturers reported no change in their outlook regarding overall profitability for April compared to March.
Confidence among non-manufacturing businesses—the mainstay of the Korean economy—decreased to 80 points for April, down from 82 points for March.