SEOUIL, KOREA - The views on the economic outlook diverge widely between large corporations and small- and medium-sized enterprises. The outlook for the next three months, large corporations see that it would get worse while smaller counterparts expect good days are ahead.

 

According to a survey by the Federation of Korean Industries, a trade group representing the interest of big business, on Korea's 600 largest companies (in terms of sales revenue), the May Business Survey Index (BSI) was 99.8. The BSI over and above 100 implies there are more companies expecting better business conditions than those believing otherwise. The indexes in March and April had been in excess of 100 for two consecutive months.

 

In contrast, a survey by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business on 1,433 smaller companies conducted between April 11 and 17 said its Small Business Health Index for May rose 1.6 points to 92.2. The index has climbed up for three straight months since it recorded 82.2 in February.

 

A Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business official said, "As the government showed its willingness to tackle the issue of the sluggish economic condition by injecting additional money through a revised supplementary budget, small entrepreneurs are optimistic that things will get better. In addition, IT exports have been gathering steam of late."