SMEs expect conditions to toughen in Aug.

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean SMEs are expecting a difficult August, survey showed on July 28.

According to a survey conducted by the Korea Federation of SMEs, local SMEs projected a difficult August, putting the Small Business Health Index for August at 87.9 points.

Small Business Health Index, or SBHI, of lower than 100 indicates that the surveyed companies expect conditions to worsen in the coming month.

This is the third straight month in which the SBHI has dropped since June.

By sector, manufacturing companies’ SBHI dropped 2.9 point compared to July to come in at 84.6 points. The surveyed manufacturing companies expected worse domestic demand, exports and finances in August compared to July.

The figure for non-manufacturing businesses dropped 2.7 point to come in at 85.4 points.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)