This file photo shows the buildings of South Korea’s major companies in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 16 (Korea Bizwire) – Local businesses saw their first-quarter sales continue to rise but at a slower pace than three months earlier amid growing economic uncertainty at home and abroad, central bank data showed Thursday.
A total of 20,120 corporations subject to external audits posted a 17 percent rise in their combined sales during the January-March period from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The increase, however, slowed from a 24.9 percent on-year increase tallied in the fourth quarter of last year.
The BOK said the continued advance in sales stemmed in part from robust consumption and increased prices of goods.
Manufacturers logged continued growth in sales bolstered by the oil, chemical and electronic sectors, but non-manufacturers, including those in the retail and wholesale sectors, experienced a relatively slower pace of increases in sales.
Manufacturers saw their sales grow 18.6 percent on-year in the first quarter, while non-manufacturers logged a 15.4 percent rise in sales over the same period, the data showed.
South Korea’s economy, Asia’s fourth largest, is facing growing uncertainty from mounting inflation pressure and a possible economic slowdown caused by monetary tightening in major countries.
(Yonhap)
