Consumer price inflation in the People's Republic of China (PRC) fell to 2.1% year-on-year (y-o-y) in March from 3.2% in February. Meanwhile, the PRC's exports rose 10.0% y-o-y in March while imports increased 14.1%. Fitch Ratings affirmed the PRC's long-term FCY rating at A+, but downgraded the country's LCY rating to A+ from AA- with a stable outlook. Real GDP growth of the PRC moderated to 7.7% y-o-y in 1Q13 from 7.9% in 4Q12. The PRC's industrial production expanded 8.9% y-o-y while retail sales grew 12.6% y-o-y in March.
* Bank Indonesia's (BI) Board of Governors decided to keep its benchmark interest rate steady at a record-low level of 5.75% in its meeting held on 11 April. The Bank of Korea's Monetary Policy Committee decided on 11 April to keep the base rate steady at 2.75%.
* Singapore's real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 0.6% y-o-y in 1Q13, based on advance estimates of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The Bank of Korea last week revised downward its 2013 GDP growth forecast for the Republic of Korea to 2.6% from 2.8%.
* Malaysia's industrial production contracted 4.5% y-o-y and manufacturing sales decreased 6.9% in February. Car production in the Republic of Korea fell 13.1% y-o-y in March.
* Japan posted a current account surplus of JPY637.4 billion in February following a deficit of JPY364.8 billion in January. Philippine merchandise exports fell 15.6% y-o-y in February, as electronic exports dropped 36.5%.
* The China National Petroleum Corporation raised US$2 billion from a multi-tranche bond sale that included a US$750 million 3-year bond at a 1.45% coupon, a US$500 million 5-year bond at a 1.95% coupon, and a US$750 million 7-year bond at a 3.40% coupon last week.
* Indonesia raised US$3 billion from the sale of 10- and 30-year bonds (US$1.5 billion each) carrying coupon rates of 3.375% and 4.625%, respectively. First Pacific Company raised US$400 million from the sale of 10-year bonds carrying a coupon rate of 4.50%.
* In the Republic of Korea, telecom company KT Corporation raised KRW410 billion from a triple-tranche bond sale last week.
* LCY corporate bond issuance in the Republic of Korea fell 24.4% month-on-month (m-o-m) to KRW8.9 trillion in March, based on Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) data, stemming from a relatively sharp drop in the issuance of asset-backed securities. Meanwhile, the outstanding amount of household loans made by depository corporations in the Republic of Korea grew 2.7% y-o-y to KRW654.4 trillion in February.
* Government bond yields fell last week for most tenors in the PRC; Hong Kong, China; Malaysia; the Philippines; Singapore; and Thailand. Yields rose for all tenors in the Republic of Korea and for most tenors in Indonesia. Yield movements were mixed in Viet Nam. Yield spreads between 2- and 10-year tenors widened in the PRC, the Philippines, and Viet Nam, while spreads narrowed in Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; the Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Singapore; and Thailand.
* Upcoming data releases for this week include (i) balance of payments for the Philippines; (ii) consumer price inflation for Hong Kong, China and Malaysia; (iii) the merchandise trade balance for Japan; and (iv) non-oil domestic exports for Singapore.
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