SEOUL-- South Korea's smaller firms' business outlook improved for October on hopes of brisk exports and the nation's broader vaccination against the new coronavirus, a poll showed Wednesday.
The survey of 3,150 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) showed that the small business health index (SBHI) stood at 83.4 for the coming month, up 5.4 points from September.
It marks the second straight month of increase, but it remains below par. The index rose 4.4 points on-month to 78 for September, the first rise in four months.
A reading below 100 indicates pessimists outnumber optimists. The survey was taken by the Korea Federation of SMEs from Sept. 13-23.
The federation said the improvement reflects expectations for an economic recovery amid more COVID-19 vaccinations and brisk exports, despite a recent resurgence of infections.
According to the findings, the SBHI for the manufacturing sector came to 88.7 for October, up 5.6 points from September, with that for non-manufacturing companies also climbing 5.3 points to 80.6.
Nearly 60 percent of the respondents cited sluggish domestic demand as the biggest hurdle to their management, followed by rising raw materials costs (41.8 percent), growing labor costs (41.3 percent) and cutthroat competition (38.1 percent).
Source: Yonhap News Agency