South Korea's July manufacturing sentiment unchanged from June

[SEOUL] South Korean manufacturers were as pessimistic in their outlook for July as they had been for June, a central bank survey showed on Wednesday.

The Bank of Korea's manufacturing business survey index for July stood at a seasonally adjusted 72, the same as for June.

A reading below 100 indicates that the number of companies expecting deterioration in business conditions for the coming month outnumber those seeing improvement.

June's reading had been a seven-month high, but it was still far below the neutral point at 100.

The sub-indices showed manufacturers felt slightly more pessimistic about domestic demand than they did about prospects for exports in July.

When asked what their biggest problems were regarding future business, survey respondents pointed to economic uncertainties and sluggish domestic consumption.

On Monday, the government announced it will propose a supplementary budget of around 10 trillion won (S$11.4 billion) to parliament soon, in order to counter the effects of market turmoil wrought by Brexit, weak exports, and a corporate overhaul of South Korea's shipping and shipbuilding industries.

The government has said it is concerned over slowing momentum in the private sector amid weak exports.

REUTERS