The Republic of Korea’s exports rose 13.4% y-o-y to USD45.0 billion in May. Imports rose 18.2% y-o-y to USD39.1 billion. The Republic of Korea posted a trade surplus of USD6.0 billion in May. In April, Thailand’s merchandise exports grew 5.9% y-o-y, easing from 10.8% y-o-y growth in March, while merchandise imports rose 10.1% y-o-y in April, easing from 22.4% y-o-y growth in the previous month.

To read the full report, data and graphs go to http://asianbondsonline.adb.org/newsletters/abowdh20170605.pdf?src=newsletter&id=uWidK3KdmgXVUWes9IgIcqKp1miwxx

******************************************************************************

News Highlights - Week of 29 May - 2 June 2017

Consumer price inflation climbed in Indonesia to 4.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) in May, the highest level this year, from 4.2% y-o-y a month earlier. Consumer price inflation in the Republic of Korea inched up to 2.0% y-o-y in May from 1.9% y-o-y in April. Thailand’s consumer price inflation dipped for the first time in 14 months to 0.04% y-o-y in May after easing to 0.38% y-o-y in April. Consumer price inflation in Viet Nam eased to 3.2% y-o-y in May from 4.3% y-o-y a month earlier.

*     Industrial production in Japan rose 4.0% month-on-month (m-o-m) in April following a 1.9% m-o-m decline in March. The industries that contributed to the growth include transport equipment; general-purpose, production, and business-oriented machinery; and electronic parts and devices. On a y-o-y basis, industrial production in Japan rose 5.7%. In Viet Nam, industrial production growth marginally eased to 7.2% y-o-y in May from 7.4% y-o-y a month earlier, due largely to a further decline in the output in mining and quarrying. All other subindexes posted increases, led by the electricity subindex, which grew 13.8% y-o-y.  For the first 5 months of the year, industrial production growth rose to 5.7% y-o-y.

*     The Republic of Korea’s exports rose 13.4% y-o-y to USD45.0 billion in May. Imports rose 18.2% y-o-y to USD39.1 billion. The Republic of Korea posted a trade surplus of USD6.0 billion in May. In April, Thailand’s merchandise exports grew 5.9% y-o-y, easing from 10.8% y-o-y growth in March, while merchandise imports rose 10.1% y-o-y in April, easing from 22.4% y-o-y growth in the previous month.

*     Thailand’s current account surplus rose to USD2.9 billion in April from USD2.6 billion in March. The rise came from the surplus in trade, as well as strong tourism receipts that supported the surplus in services, income, and transfer accounts. The trade surplus and the services and income account surplus each amounted to around USD1.5 billion.

*     The Republic of Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth was revised upward to 1.1% q-o-q in Q1 2017.

*     The People’s Bank of China last week issued draft rules for the bond connect program between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Hong Kong, China. According to the rules, qualified overseas investors may purchase any amount of bonds on the PRC’s interbank bond market. Bonds purchased under the program must be either registered or lodged with qualified overseas trust entities with counterparts in the PRC.

*     The Government of Indonesia priced a total of JPY100 billion from a triple-tranche bond sale. The bond sale comprised a JPY40 billion 3-year bond with a coupon rate of 0.65%, a JPY50 billion 5-year bond with a coupon rate of 0.89%, and a JPY10 billion 7-year bond with a coupon rate of 1.04%. The bonds were offered via public offering, representing the first bond sale by Indonesia through this method.

*     Yields rose for for most tenors in Indonesia, due to a rise in inflation and in Malaysia, Singapore and Viet Nam.  Yields fell for most tenors in the Philippines and Thailand, due to a decline in inflation. Yields fell for all tenors in the PRC and the Republic of Korea but yield movements were mixed in Hong Kong, China.  The 2-year versus 10-year yield spread fell in most markets except in Indonesia and Malaysia.

******************************************************************************