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S. Korean consumer sentiment below par for 2nd month in Sept.
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South Korea's consumer confidence stayed below the benchmark 100 for the second
straight month in September, hit by the eurozone debt crisis and financial
market jitters, the central bank said Tuesday.
The consumer sentiment index (CSI) -- a gauge of consumers' overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending -- came in at 99 for September, unchanged from the previous month, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a monthly survey.
The sentiment index, a gauge of future private spending, fell below par in August for the first time in five months as a sputtering U.S. economy and Europe's debt problems weakened the global outlook.
A reading below the benchmark 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. The survey, based on a poll of 2,046 households in 56 cities, was conducted from Sept. 14-21.
"The eurozone debt crisis and subsequent global market uneasiness put a strain on consumer sentiment," said Jang Wan-sub, an official at the BOK.
Even in the face of the dimmer outlooks, consumers' inflation expectations hit a near 3-year high in September, the BOK said.
South Korean consumers in September forecast inflation to reach an annual average of 4.3 percent over the next 12 months, up from 4.2 percent estimated in the previous month, according to the BOK.
It marked the highest level since an identical 4.3 percent was tallied in November 2008.
Korean policymakers are in a dilemma because the economic growth is slowing down while inflationary pressure lingers.
BOK Gov. Kim Choong-soo earlier said that if global financial uneasiness and the economic slowdowns in advanced countries persist, the growth of the Korean economy is expected to be affected considerably.
The sub-index gauging consumers' assessment of current economic conditions fell by 4 to 64, the lowest level in six months. But the index measuring their outlook for the economy reached 78 in September, up from 77 tallied in August, the BOK said.
The index gauging the inflation level stood at 144 for this month, down 7 points from the previous month as many consumers believed that consumer inflation of 5.3 percent might have peaked in August.
Date
2011.09.27
The consumer sentiment index (CSI) -- a gauge of consumers' overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending -- came in at 99 for September, unchanged from the previous month, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a monthly survey.
The sentiment index, a gauge of future private spending, fell below par in August for the first time in five months as a sputtering U.S. economy and Europe's debt problems weakened the global outlook.
A reading below the benchmark 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. The survey, based on a poll of 2,046 households in 56 cities, was conducted from Sept. 14-21.
"The eurozone debt crisis and subsequent global market uneasiness put a strain on consumer sentiment," said Jang Wan-sub, an official at the BOK.
Even in the face of the dimmer outlooks, consumers' inflation expectations hit a near 3-year high in September, the BOK said.
South Korean consumers in September forecast inflation to reach an annual average of 4.3 percent over the next 12 months, up from 4.2 percent estimated in the previous month, according to the BOK.
It marked the highest level since an identical 4.3 percent was tallied in November 2008.
Korean policymakers are in a dilemma because the economic growth is slowing down while inflationary pressure lingers.
BOK Gov. Kim Choong-soo earlier said that if global financial uneasiness and the economic slowdowns in advanced countries persist, the growth of the Korean economy is expected to be affected considerably.
The sub-index gauging consumers' assessment of current economic conditions fell by 4 to 64, the lowest level in six months. But the index measuring their outlook for the economy reached 78 in September, up from 77 tallied in August, the BOK said.
The index gauging the inflation level stood at 144 for this month, down 7 points from the previous month as many consumers believed that consumer inflation of 5.3 percent might have peaked in August.
Source: Yonhap News (Sept. 27, 2011)