Consumer sentiment in South Korea dipped to a three-month low in March, due mostly to weakening prospects on household income and spending, data showed Thursday.
The overall consumer sentiment index reached 101 in March, slipping from 103 the previous month and falling to its lowest level since December, according to the Bank of Korea.
A reading higher than 100 means that optimists outnumber pessimists.
After tumbling four notches in the aftermath of the deadly ferry sinking in April last year, the monthly index has been zigzagging as government stimulus measures failed to jolt economic growth.
Particularly, the index measuring the six-month outlook on household income fell three notches to 99, while the six-month outlook for household spending also declined three notches to 106.
Consumers’ inflation forecast for the next one-year period came in at 2.5 percent after remaining at 2.6 percent for the past three months. The reading matches the bottom line of the central bank’s 2.5-3.5 percent target band for the years 2013-2015.
The six-month forecast on the base rate, meanwhile, slipped by three notches to 89 from 92, which indicates growing sentiment for an additional rate cut.
In a March 12 policy meeting, the BOK lowered the base rate to a record-low of 1.75 percent in a surprise move in efforts to prop up sagging growth.
Revised BOK data released on Wednesday showed that the Korean economy, Asia’s fourth-largest, expanded 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter, lower than an earlier estimate of 0.4 percent.
The CSI survey of 2,200 households across the nation was conducted in the March 12-19 period. (Yonhap)
