This photo shows the Yeouido Business District in Seoul. Korea Times file

Korean's business outlook darkened for January amid worries over high inflation and an economic slump, a central bank poll showed Wednesday.

Local companies' business sentiment index (BSI) for December came to 70 for January, down 4 points from what was tallied for the previous month, according to the survey by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The index measures corporate prospects for business conditions the following month. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists.

Business sentiment worsened as worries are mounting that rising interest rates enforced to fight inflation could excessively cool economic growth.

The BSI for manufacturers fell from 69 to 68 over the same period, and the index for non-manufacturing firms was also down from 77 to 72, the data showed.

The BSI for large companies dropped from 75 to 71, but the figure for small and medium-sized enterprises rose 2 points on-month to 64 in January.

The survey was conducted on 2,776 firms, including 1,639 manufacturers, from Dec. 13-20, the BOK said. (Yonhap)