Consumer sentiment in South Korea inched up in August, improving for a second straight month, as fears over the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak ebbed, data showed Wednesday.

The overall consumer sentiment index reached 102 in August, gaining from 100 in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. A reading below 100 indicates that pessimists outnumber optimists.

The index had tumbled below the benchmark 100 in May as the fatal respiratory illness sapped domestic demand by making locals refrain from outside activities on fear of contracting the disease.

The outbreak, the second-largest infection outside Saudi Arabia, claimed 36 lives here. South Korea declared a de facto end to the MERS outbreak on July 28, about two months after it reported its first case on May 20.

In July, the index improved to 100 from 99 as the MERS outbreak showed signs of subsiding.

Meanwhile, the index measuring sentiment on rate moves in the next six months hit 104, breaking the benchmark 100 for the first time since May 2014.

A reading higher than 100 means that there are more people who think that rates will climb compared with people who believe that rates will fall.

A BOK official said that "rates" include both the central bank's key interest rate as well as lending and borrowing rates at local banks.

South Korea's key interest rate currently stands at a record low of 1.5 percent following four rounds of rate cuts since August last year. But there have been views that the BOK will eventually hike rates once the U.S. Federal Reserve does.

The CSI survey of 2,200 households across the country was conducted between Aug. 12 and 19. (Yonhap)