South Korea's business sentiment index for January fell amid prolonged concerns over a slowdown of the global economy and high interest rates, a poll showed Wednesday.

The business survey index for 372 out of the country's top 600 companies by sales stood at 91.1 for January, down 2.9 points from this month, according to the monthly poll by the Federation of Korean Industries.

A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists, while a figure above the benchmark means the opposite.

The BSI for the manufacturing industry came to 87 for November, with the index for the nonmanufacturing sector reaching 95.2. The index for manufacturers has fallen for 22 consecutive months.

The FKI, the lobby for the country's family-controlled conglomerates, attributed the weak January reading to lingering concerns over the slowdown of the global economy, high interest rates and inflationary pressure.

The federation stressed the need to enhance the growth potential of the economy by pushing forward labor reforms, regulatory reforms and improving tax regulations to foster a more favorable business environment. (Yonhap)