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Business sentiment rebounds for first time in five months, BOK survey finds

Published: 26 Mar. 2025, 09:59 Updated: 26 Mar. 2025, 14:01

Containers are stacked at a port in Busan on March 2. [NEWS1]

Korea's business sentiment rebounded for the first time in five months in March amid uncertainty at home and abroad, a central bank poll showed Wednesday.

The Composite Business Sentiment Index, or CBSI, in all industries for March came to 86.7, up 1.4 points from the previous month, according to the survey by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It marked the first on-month increase since October, as sentiment had worsened markedly, falling to the lowest level since September 2020 in February, due mainly to President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law in December and uncertainty stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff scheme.

The index measures corporate prospects for business conditions. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists.

The CBSI among manufacturers climbed 1.8 points from a month earlier to 91.9 in March, and that among nonmanufacturers went up 1.2 points to 82.9.

The outlook for April, however, fell 2.4 points to 85.6, the survey showed.

Yonhap