South Korea’s business sentiment index remained pessimistic for August due to concerns of high interest rates and weak domestic demand, a poll showed Wednesday.

The business survey index (BSI) for the country’s top 600 companies by sales stood at 97.1 for next month, according to the monthly poll by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI).

A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists, while a figure above the benchmark means the opposite. The index has remained below 100 since April 2022.

The BSI for the manufacturing industry came to 94.8 for August, up 6.3 points from the previous month thanks to rosy outlooks for exports of semiconductors.

The index for the nonmanufacturing sector, however, fell six points to 99.5, due to weakened sentiment in the retail sector.

A FKI official said there have been positive signs of an economic recovery driven by exports but that they have been limited to certain industries, such as semiconductors and shipbuilding, while most companies are still facing f
inancial burdens due to high interest rates.

Source: Yonhap News Agency