Certified Public Accountants Say "Overall Improvement in Domestic Economy in Q2 This Year"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jihwan] Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) judged that the domestic economy showed an overall improvement in the second quarter of this year.

On the 28th, the Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants (KICPA) announced the results of the CPA Business Survey Index (CPA BSI). The BSI for the economic status in the second quarter was 137. Since the BSI exceeds the baseline of 100, it indicates that the overall economy is improving. Conversely, a BSI below 100 signifies economic deterioration.

KICPA conducted a survey from the 14th to the 22nd of last month targeting 242 CPAs regarding the overall domestic economy and the economic conditions of major industries.

The current status BSI has shown an upward trend for four consecutive quarters since the second quarter of last year (30). However, the increase in the second quarter (+16 points) was less than that of the first quarter (+46 points), indicating a slight slowdown in the improvement trend. The third quarter outlook BSI (143, +12 points) also exceeded 100, but the rate of increase in the outlook was slower than in the second quarter (+43 points), suggesting a moderate recovery in the third quarter economy.

KICPA stated, "Amid the recent full-scale fourth wave of COVID-19 and the spread of the Delta variant, uncertainty is rising again. Therefore, caution is needed as consumer sentiment, which had been recovering recently, may freeze once more."

CPAs identified the major detailed factors affecting Korea's economy this year as follows: the impact of COVID-19 (speed of vaccination and improvement in consumer sentiment, etc.) (42%), the pace of global economic recovery (23%), the government's expansionary fiscal policy (8%), improvement in corporate investment sentiment (8%), and changes in the funding environment (shift to tightening monetary policy due to economic recovery and inflation, including reduction of quantitative easing and interest rate hikes) (6%).

By industry, the current (second quarter) and outlook (third quarter) BSI for all industries exceeded 100, indicating favorable business conditions across industries, with this positive trend expected to continue into the third quarter. In particular, the steel (second quarter current BSI 152) and shipbuilding (second quarter current BSI 143) industries showed remarkable business improvement due to increased demand from economic recovery.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.