South Korean manufacturers’ business sentiment at 2-year low -central bank survey

SEOUL – South Korean manufacturers’ business sentiment for December dropped to a more than two-year low, a central bank survey showed on Wednesday, amid growing economic uncertainties and persistently high inflation.

The business outlook index for the manufacturing sector fell to 70 for December on a seasonally adjusted basis from 75 for November, according to the Bank of Korea’s monthly survey of companies. It was the lowest level since October 2020.

In the survey, manufacturers cited economic uncertainty as the biggest difficulty, accounting for 22.7 percent of total responses, followed by rising raw material prices (18.5 percent) and weak domestic demand (11.4 percent).

The index for non-manufacturers also inched down to 76 for December, from 77 for November, hitting the lowest since March 2021.