More than half of South Korean chief executives counted austerity as their key management plan for next year.
 
According to a survey by the Korea Employer's Federation, 52-point-three percent of CEOs answered that their key policy for 2016 will be tightening their belts. The federation surveyed 235 corporations in late November and released the results on Sunday.
 
Roughly 30 percent answered that they will maintain the status quo while only about 17 percent said they will expand their business.
 
The ratio of CEOs planning austere management stood at about 67 percent among large companies, up around 15 percentage points from last year. The ratio for small- and medium-sized enterprises also rose about 14 percentage points.
 
The federation said the number of companies that plan to tighten their belts is lower than the 67 percent in December 2008 when the global financial crisis began, but is at the highest since 2009.