South Korea's manufacturing slump, manufacturers are pessimistic

The Bank of Korea conducted a survey from Nov. 16-23, interviewing 1,748 South Korean manufacturers. On November 30, survey data released showed that South Korean manufacturers remained pessimistic about their business prospects in December, despite signs of improvement in manufacturing in November. The Bank of Korea's seasonally adjusted manufacturing sentiment index (BSI) was 72 in December, unchanged from November. A reading below 100 indicates that more businesses are expecting business conditions to deteriorate in the coming month than are expected to improve. The index has averaged 74.3 over the past year. The South Korean government and central bank insisted that the country's economy will maintain a steady pace of recovery in the current quarter, and that the recovery in domestic demand will make up for the impact of weak exports.