By Lee Hana and Yoon Hee Young
The business sales index (BSI) that forecasts this month's sales by companies hit a ten-year high due to the recent growth of exports. Overseas shipments in March are anticipated to see a double-digit increase.
The Bank of Korea on March 31 said the BSI reflecting business performance in every industry this month was 83, up from 76 last month and the highest since 87 in July 2011.
The BSI gauges the economic predictions and prospects from the perspective of companies on a scale of 0-200. The index falls below 100 if the number of businesses negative over their prospects exceed that of those positive.
The survey was conducted from March 15-22 with 2,799 domestic companies -- 1,639 in manufacturing and 1,160 in non-manufacturing -- responding.
The BSI in manufacturing this month rose seven points to 89 from last month. The corresponding figure for corporations grew six points (99), that for small and medium-size businesses nine (78), export companies three (97) and companies targeting the domestic market 11 (85).
The economic sentiment indicator (ESI), a combination of the BSI and the consumer sentiment index, marked 101.3 this month, up 4.7 points. A score above 100 means that public economic sentiment is more optimistic than the average in the past.
This is the first time for the ESI to exceed 100 since 100.4 in June 2018.
The positive conditions that exports have seen since late last year are expected to continue for a while.
The Korea Customs Service said exports in the first 20 days of March rose 12.5% to USD 33.87 billion on a customs clearance basis from the same month last year.
The BSI for export companies for April hit 101, recovering to the 100 level for the first time since 100 in June 2011.
hlee10@korea.kr