Consumer sentiment inches up in April

Korea’s consumer sentiment improved, albeit slightly, to reach the highest level this year in April, with more people expecting better conditions for their livelihood down the road, data showed Wednesday.

The Bank of Korea’s composite consumer sentiment index came in at 101 for April, up from 100 the previous month.

A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists, while a reading below the benchmark means the opposite. The index had moved from 100 in January to 98 in February, and then to 100 in March.

A subindex measuring how people expect things to be six months ahead climbed to 86, a five-month high, although this is still way below the benchmark -- the average for the years 2003-2015.

The improvements in consumer sentiment come as Korea’s economic policymakers struggle to offset the impact of slowing world trade, particularly from a slowdown in its key trade partner China.

Separate BOK data released Tuesday showed that private spending shrunk 0.3 percent in the January-March period, a turnaround from the 1.4 percent expansion in the previous quarter. The country’s economy expanded only 0.4 percent on-quarter, slowing from 0.7 percent on-quarter growth in the fourth quarter of 2015.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)