Korean firms' facility investments to edge up in 2017

Facility investments by South Korean firms could edge up 0.1 percent in 2017 from a year earlier, but there is a divide between large and small companies, South Korea's state-run Korea Development Bank said Thursday.

The combined facility investments planned for this year reached 179.7 trillion won ($156 billion), up 300 billion won from a year earlier, the bank said, citing its recent survey of 3,550 local firms.

(Yonhap)

Big companies said they would spend 154.6 trillion won on facility investment this year, up 2.7 percent from 2016. In comparison, small companies said they would cut their facility investments by 13.2 percent to 25.1 trillion won, according to the bank.

Big companies have blamed business uncertainty for the slight increase in facility investment while small companies said weak demand and financing difficulties are responsible for their reduction.

By sector, manufacturing companies said they would spend 90.7 trillion won in facility investment this year, up 4 percent from 2016. In comparison, non-manufacturing firms said their facility investments could fall 3.5 percent to 89 trillion won this year. (Yonhap)