S. Korean firms foresee more gloom in March

SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's major companies are expecting business
conditions to further deteriorate into March, but were slightly less pessimistic
than they were a month ago, a private survey showed Thursday.
The monthly business survey index, an indicator of corporate sentiment for the
coming month, was 76.1 for March, compared with 66 the month before, according to
the survey by the Federation of Korean Industries.
It was the 10th straight month the index recorded a reading of below 100, the
corporate lobby group said, indicating pessimists still outnumber optimists.
"The slight rise in business confidence was due to expectations that the
government's economic stimulus package may help the economy bottom out," the
federation said in a statement.
The government is planning to spend a total of 140 trillion won (US$92.5
billion), including tax cuts, to prevent the economy from falling into a
recession.
Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun has predicted the economy will shrink by two
percent this year, while the International Monetary Fund has forecast a 4-percent
contraction.
Last year, the economy expanded just 2.5 percent, compared with 5.1-percent
growth in 2007.
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