Companies expect business downturn next year

The majority of domestic manufacturers feel that business conditions have deteriorated in the fourth quarter of this year from the previous three months and would become worse in the first quarter of next year, a recent survey found.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Monday that the business survey index (BSI) for 2,893 manufacturers whose turnovers exceeded 1.5 billion won stood at 75 in the fourth quarter, sharply down from 97 in the previous quarter.

Officials said that the BSI for the first three months of next year also dipped to 67 from 107 in the third quarter of this year. The business prospective index was particularly low for companies depending on domestic demand. The BSI for the first quarter of next year came to 84 for exporting companies and 67 for companies that rely on domestic demand.

The BSI is an index of an economy's outlook. A figure over 100 means that the companies expecting an improvement in business conditions outnumber those expecting a downturn.