PHILIPPINES: GDP Resilience on Show 

NAB’s March business survey was little changed from February with confidence down 1 point to -3 and conditions up 1 point to +4. The result is in line with moderate growth but doesn’t signal any pickup in the pace of the recovery, likely given heightened uncertainty. The survey results don’t suggest any worry about a global trade war before US reciprocal tariffs were announced, which were higher than expected.

• On the inflation side, labour costs remained elevated at 1.5% 3m/3m after 1.6% and purchase costs were steady at 1.4%. However, the rise in final product prices held at a subdued 0.4%
• The pickup in conditions was driven by a 2 point increase in profitability to +1, while employment was steady at +4 and trading fell 1 point to +6. Capex rose 1 point to +7.
• Forward looking orders rose 1 point to -2, while stocks increased 2 points to +5, which may be indicating preparation for stronger demand as capacity utilisation rose almost 1pp to 82.9%.
• On the external front, exports were flat at 0 and sales rose 1 point to +1.

The AOFM sells A$400mn of the 4.25% 21 June 2034 Green Bond:

• Average Yield (%): 4.1725 (prev. 4.4693)
• High Yield (%): 4.1750 (prev. 4.4725)
• Bid/Cover: 4.8875x (prev. 5.1833x)
• Allotted at Highest Accepted Yld as % of Bid at that Yld (%): 51 (prev. 39.5)
• Bidders: 41 (prev. 38), 13 (prev. 12) successful, 6 (prev. 6) allocated in full

• The PBOC issued CNY167.4b of 7-day reverse repo at 1.5% during this morning’s operations.
• Today’s maturities CNY64.9bn
• Net liquidity injection of CNY102.5bn.
• The PBOC monitors and maintains liquidity in the interbank market through the issuance of reverse repo.
• The CFETS Pledged Repo Deposit Institutions 7 Day Weighted Average is at 1.56%, from yesterday’s close of 1.74%
• China’s overnight interbank repo rate is 1.71%, from yesterday’s close of 1.72%.
• China’s 7-day interbank repo rate is 1.86%, from yesterday’s close of 1.75%.