The Ministry of Finance and Economy said Saturday that the latest business survey indexes, or BSIs, generally point towards improving business sentiment.

The ministry's economic policy bureau said that in the BSIs compiled by the Federation of Korean Industries and the Korea Credit Guarantee fund, there were marked improvements from numbers in August and the preceding quarter.

The latter is important because it represents the confidence of small and medium businesses that have been particularly hard hit by the sluggish economic growth coming into 2003.

A BSI reading of over 100 means that companies predicting an improvement in business conditions outnumber those expecting a deterioration in conditions.