FW: AsianBondsOnline Newsletter (13 November 2017)

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News Highlights - Week of 6 - 10 November 2017

Last week, policy rates were held steady in Malaysia, the Philippines, and
Thailand. On 9 November, Bank Negara Malaysia decided to maintain its
overnight policy rate at 3.00% on the back of a vibrant domestic economy,
with growth momentum supported by spillovers from the external sector,
stable financial markets, and broadly upbeat prospects for global economic
growth. On 9 November, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas maintained the
overnight reverse repurchase rate at 3.00% as the inflation environment
remains manageable even as consumer prices trended upward. On 8 November,
the Bank of Thailand's Monetary Policy Committee maintained the policy
rate at 1.50%. It noted the improvement in Thailand's growth outlook
driven by an expansion in exports, tourism, and domestic demand, while
headline inflation is expected to gradually increase from the pickup in
domestic consumption.

* Hong Kong, China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 3.6%
year-on-year (y-o-y) in the third quarter (Q3) of 2017 after rising 3.9%
y-o-y in the second quarter (Q2) of 2017. The Q3 2017 GDP growth was
dragged down by a 1.7% y-o-y decline in gross domestic capital formation,
while y-o-y improvements were noted in the growth of domestic consumption
(6.7%) and exports of services (3.7%). In Indonesia, real GDP growth
inched up to 5.06% y-o-y in Q3 2017 from 5.01% in the earlier quarter,
falling below expectations. Growth in household consumption (4.9% y-o-y)
continued to weaken and government spending (3.9% y-o-y) rebounded. Also,
contributing to the overall GDP growth in Q3 2017 were investments (7.1%
y-o-y) and exports (17.3% y-o-y).

* Industrial production growth in Malaysia eased to 4.7% y-o-y in
September from 6.8% y-o-y in August due to slower growth in the indexes of
the manufacturing, mining, and electricity sectors.

* The People's Republic of China's (PRC) consumer prices rose 1.9%
y-o-y in October after an increase of 1.6% y-o-y in September. Producer
prices in the PRC rose at the same pace as in September at 6.9% y-o-y. In
the Philippines, inflation rose to 3.5% y-o-y in October from 3.4% y-o-y
in September, driven by higher food and energy prices.

* The PRC's exports rose 6.9% y-o-y in October (in USD-denominated
terms) while imports rose 17.2% y-o-y. The PRC reported a trade surplus of
USD38.2 billion in October. The Philippines' total exports grew 4.3% y-o-y
to USD5.6 billion in September while total imports amounted to USD7.5
billion in September, 1.7% higher than a year earlier. This resulted in a
trade deficit of USD1.9 billion in September, narrower than the USD2.4
billion deficit in August.

* Indonesia's current account deficit narrowed to USD4.3 billion, or
an equivalent of 1.7% of GDP, in Q3 2017 from USD4.8 billion, or an
equivalent of 1.9% of GDP in Q2 2017. The narrower current account deficit
stemmed from a higher goods trade surplus and a decline in the primary
account deficit. In Japan, the current account surplus narrowed to JPY2.3
trillion in September from JPY2.4 trillion in August.

* Local currency government bond yields in emerging East Asia were
mostly higher last week, tracking the rise in yields in US Treasuries. The
spread between the 2-year and 10-year maturities narrowed for most
emerging East Asian markets except for Indonesia, the Republic of Korea,
Malaysia, and Thailand.

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