Small merchants' sentiment stays anemic amid pandemic

SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korean small merchants' business confidence edged up but remained flaccid in August amid a resurgence of the novel coronavirus in the country, a poll showed Thursday.

The Small Enterprise and Market Service said its business survey index (BSI) for small merchants stood at 34.8 last month, up just 2 points from a month earlier.

Despite the slight increase that was attributed to the summer holiday season and a rise in jobs, the August reading was still well below the benchmark.

A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. The survey of 3,700 small merchants nationwide was taken from Aug. 18-23.

The small merchant BSI sank from 53.5 in June to 32.8 in July, the lowest level in 16 months, in the wake of the coronavirus resurgence here.

The findings showed the BSI for traditional markets coming to 32.6 in August, up 6 points from the prior month.

The survey also showed the small merchant BSI coming to 65.2 for September, up from 19.8 points for August, thanks to expectations for special demand during the fall harvest Chuseok holiday set for Sept. 18-22.

South Korea has been implementing strict social distancing rules to stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, which have hit self-employed small merchants hard.

Asia's fourth-largest economy also remains dogged by the resurgence of the new coronavirus, with daily cases staying above 1,000 for nearly two months running.

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