S. Koreans firms less negative on business conditions in April

SEOUL, March 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's major companies expect business
conditions to remain weak in April, but are less pessimistic than the previous
month amid hopes that the government's stimulus programs may boost consumption,
according to a survey released Monday.
The monthly business survey index, an indicator of companies' outlook for the
coming month, was 86.7 in April, compared with 76.1 the month before, the
Federation of Korean Industries said in a statement.
It was the 11th straight month the index recorded a reading below 100, but began
rebounding for the third consecutive month, the corporate lobby group said.
A reading above 100 means the number of firms expecting the economy to improve
beat those expecting a deterioration.
"The government's stimulus package improved overall business sentiment," the
federation said in the statement.
Early this month, the government unveiled a supplementary budget of 28.9 trillion
won (US$21.3 billion) to shore up the economy as the nation is headed for its
first recession in a decade.
The size of the extra budget was more than twice that the supplementary budget
spent during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
Hit by the deepening global economic slump, South Korea's export-dependent
economy, which grew 2.2 percent last year, is expected to shrink 2.2 percent this
year, which would be the first annual contraction since 1998.
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