MNI EUROPEAN OPEN:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• FED'S WILLIAMS SAYS CREDIT CONDITIONS TO DAMPEN SPENDING (MNI)
• FED’S GOOLSBEE SAYS HE’S WATCHING TIGHTER CREDIT ECONOMY IMPACT (BBG)
• FED TO DELIVER 25-BASIS-POINT HIKE IN MAY, STAY ON HOLD REST OF YEAR (RTRS POLL)
• FED BEIGE BOOK: INFLATION SLOWS, CREDIT TIGHTENS (MNI)
• U.S. TREASURY'S TAX DEADLINE DAY TAKE TOTALS $129.8BN (RTRS)
• ECB’S SCHNABEL SAYS TOO HARD TO CALL OUTCOME OF MAY MEETING (BBG)
• RBA SET FOR BIGGEST OVERHAUL IN DECADES AFTER REVIEW CALLS FOR MORE EXTERNAL LEADERS (ABC)

Fig. 1: AUD/NZD Vs. Australia/New Zealand 2-Year Swap Spread

Source: MNI - Market News/Bloomberg

UK

INFLATION: British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said on Wednesday that inflation running above 10% was destabilising for the economy and the government had a plan to bring it down. (RTRS)

PENSIONS: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been urged by the UK pensions industry not to force retirement schemes to invest in riskier and complex assets including fast-growing young British companies, and infrastructure. (FT)

EUROPE

ECB: European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel said elevated uncertainty makes it hard to predict the outcome when officials next set interest rates. “I can’t tell you what we’ll decide at the next meeting, and especially at the following meetings,” Schnabel said Wednesday at the ZEW research institute in Mannheim, Germany. (BBG)

SNB: Swiss inflation may be low compared to other countries but is still too high, Swiss National Bank Vice Chairman Martin Schlegel said on Wednesday, hinting at possible further interest rates ahead. (RTRS)

BANKS: Credit Suisse Group AG's dealmakers, hoping to secure jobs after UBS Group AG's rescue takeover, are struggling to dispel fears about a culture clash and many will be disappointed, sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. (RTRS)

BANKS/BONDS: At least 80 Credit Suisse investors in Singapore are in talks to sue the Swiss government over its decision to write down $17bn of Credit Suisse bonds on the grounds it violates a free trade agreement. (FT)

U.S.

FED: Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams Wednesday suggested the U.S. economy remains overheated and policymakers have more tightening to do, even as tougher credit conditions may dampen spending. (MNI)

FED: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said he was still waiting to see if the fallout from the recent failure of two US banks could cause the economy to slow more than expected. (BBG)

FED: The U.S. Federal Reserve will deliver a final 25-basis-point interest rate increase in May and then hold rates steady for the rest of 2023, according to economists in a Reuters poll, which also showed a short and shallow recession this year was likely. (RTRS)

FED: The Fed's latest Beige Book report Wednesday said price increases appear to be slowing, overall economic activity was little changed in recent weeks and several regions reported tighter lending standards following SVB's collapse. (MNI)

FISCAL: The U.S. Treasury brought in $129.82 billion in total tax receipts on Tuesday, the annual tax filing deadline, compared with $75.53 billion a day earlier, the department's daily financial statement showed on Wednesday. (RTRS)

FISCAL: President Joe Biden accused Republicans of trying to “squeeze out more of America’s middle class,” painting the debt ceiling and spending cut proposal unveiled Wednesday by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as lacking detail and benefiting the wealthy. (BBG)

FISCAL: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy proposed a debt ceiling increase on Wednesday of $1.5 trillion — paired with a package of spending cuts. (Axios)

BANKS: The evolution of "open banking" in the U.S. could impact how regulators supervise banks, as seamless account portability between financial institutions could lead to increased deposit outflows, a top banking regulator said on Wednesday. (RTRS)

EQUITIES: Shares in electric vehicle maker Tesla dropped more than 4% after the company reported first-quarter earnings after the bell. Here are the results. (CNBC)

OTHER

GLOBAL TRADE: Brussels is preparing emergency curbs on Ukrainian grain imports to five member states close to the war-torn country, bowing to pressure from Poland and Hungary after they took unilateral action to pacify local farmers. (FT)

GLOBAL TRADE: Ukrainian authorities have asked Turkey to seize a ship carrying what prosecutors in Kyiv say is thousands of tons of grain stolen from areas of Ukraine occupied by Russia, according to correspondence reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. (WSJ)

GLOBAL TRADE: Britain needs to cut its reliance on semiconductor imports from geopolitically sensitive parts of the world such as Taiwan, the government will argue when it publishes a long-delayed review of the sector. (FT)

GLOBAL TRADE: Italian officials hinted in private talks with Taiwan that they may be willing to pull out of a controversial pact with China as they sought to secure help with semiconductors, according to people familiar with the issue. (BBG)

GLOBAL TRADE: Negotiations over a US-led Indo-Pacific trade pact are likely to yield results this year, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said. (BBG)

EU/CHINA: Relations with China will continue to be an important feature of how the global economy develops in spite of pressure from the US to decouple from Beijing, said Paschal Donohoe, president of the Eurogroup, which brings together euro-area finance ministers. (BBG)

BOJ: Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda will leave monetary stimulus unchanged at his first policy meeting next week, according to a Bloomberg survey. (BBG)

BOJ: The Bank of Japan (BOJ) should alter its massive monetary stimulus even though it may be painful for an economy accustomed to decades of ultra-low interest rates, the country's former top currency diplomat Rintaro Tamaki said. (RTRS)

BOJ: While Bank of Japan officials are increasingly hopeful that an uptick in wage growth will prove sustainable, they remain uncertain whether it will lift medium- to long-term inflation expectations above the subdued norm of recent years and allow a change in the easy policy settings aimed at driving the economy towards its 2% price target, MNI understands. (MNI)

RBA: The Reserve Bank is set for its biggest overhaul in decades, after a review into the central bank found it needed major changes to ensure it is "fit for the future". Treasurer Jim Chalmers has given in-principle support to the 51 recommendations, which largely seek to ensure decisions about the cash rate are made with a broader input, and the reasons for its decisions are made clearer to the public. (ABC)

RBA: Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor has flagged early support for expected major changes to the Reserve Bank of Australia. (Sky)

RBA: The Australian Prudential and Regulation Authority notes the release today of the review of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the responses by the Government and RBA. APRA welcomes the recommendations of the report that relate to APRA. (APRA)

RBA: RBA Governor Philip Lowe says he is “happy to stay” in his role if the government would like him to. “If they want to have somebody else … I’d perfectly understand that and have other things to do with my life,” Mr Lowe told Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood during a media conference on Thursday. (Sky)

NEW ZEALAND: "The Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living and supporting New Zealanders through these difficult times," Grant Robertson said. "While lower than expected, today’s result is still elevated by the impact of flooding and cyclone events on food prices, with prices increasing 8.6 percent for vegetables. The prices of second hand cars and insurance were also elevated. The effects of the cyclone will flow through into the June quarter results as well. (Voxy)

SOUTH KOREA: As bullish retail investor bets on South Korean electric-vehicle battery-related stocks drive one of the world’s best equity rallies, daily short-selling turnover has climbed to record levels. (BBG)

BRAZIL: Ricardo Cappelli takes over GDI on an interim basis after dismissal of Dias (Globo)

RUSSIA: The chief of the Justice Department unit charged with seizing assets connected to violators of sanctions against Russia said the program “cuts the purse strings from the Kremlin,” and that Congress could help it do more. (BBG)

RUSSIA: Costs in Russia's manufacturing sector rose for the second month running in March, data from the state statistics service Rosstat showed on Wednesday, driven by a sharp jump in the cost of mining, extraction and some petroleum product production. (RTRS)

SOUTH AFRICA: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s approval rating plunged more than eight percentage points in the nine months through March amid the worst power cuts the country has seen, two Social Research Foundation polls show. (BBG)

SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa’s state-owned power producer, Eskom, offered workers a pay increase of 3.75% on the first day of talks, National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. (BBG)

MARKETS: Japan's Sumitomo Life Insurance expects currency hedging costs for foreign bond investments to remain elevated based on the interest rate outlook, putting a drag on earnings in the next three years, CEO Yukinori Takada said. (Nikkei)

METALS: Rio Tinto reported a near 15% jump in first-quarter iron ore shipments on Thursday, as it ramped up production at its Gudai-Darri mine in Western Australia. (RTRS)

METALS: Total throughput volumes at ports of Port Hedland and Dampier increased last month. Pilbara Ports Authority said its ports handled a total of 62.1 million tonnes in March, a 3% increase compared with figures reported in March 2022. Port of Port Hedland posted a monthly throughput of 46.5 million tonnes. Of this figure, iron ore exports accounted 45.8 million tonnes. PPA said this marked a 2% decrease in total throughput compared with March 2022. (daily cargo News)

OIL: Canada's main oil-producing province Alberta on Wednesday released a climate plan aiming for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but did not announce any interim targets in a move that puts it at odds with the federal government's strategy. (RTRS)

CHINA

PBOC: China's Loan Prime Rate remained unchanged on Thursday, according to a People's Bank of China statement, in line with market expectation following the PBOC's decision to keep a key policy rate steady on April 17 due to the robust credit expansion and economic rebound. (MNI)

ECONOMY: Authorities are urgently drafting policy documents aimed at restoring and expanding consumption, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). (MNI)

ECONOMY: Shanghai’s economy made a strong start to Q1 but the foundation has not yet solidified, according to Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng speaking at a recent meeting. (MNI)

ECONOMY: China’s excess savings level should return to normal after reaching a record last year as individuals gain confidence in consumption and investment, the Economic Daily said in a report. (BBG)

YUAN: China’s trading partners' efforts to de-dollarise and expand the use of renminbi will take time, according to local analysts interviewed by the Securities Daily. (MNI)

CREDIT: New loans provided by many banks hit a record high for them in the first quarter, exceeding the original plans, according to a Securities Daily report Thursday, citing interviews with unidentified banks.(BBG)

BONDS: Chinese authorities plan to further "reshape" the country's bond market but have learnt lessons from the chaos that ensued when a data feed ban was abruptly imposed last month, two regulatory sources with knowledge of the matter said. (RTRS)

CHINA MARKETS

PBOC NET INJECTS CNY25 BILLION VIA OMOS THURSDAY

UP TODAY (TIMES GMT/LOCAL)

Date	GMT/Local	Impact	Flag	Country	Event
20/04/2023	0600/0800	**		DE	PPI
20/04/2023	0645/0845	**		FR	Manufacturing Sentiment
20/04/2023	0645/0845	*		FR	Retail Sales
20/04/2023	1230/0830	**		US	Jobless Claims
20/04/2023	1230/0830	**		US	WASDE Weekly Import/Export
20/04/2023	1230/0830	**		US	Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index
20/04/2023	1400/1000	***		US	NAR existing home sales
20/04/2023	1400/1600	**		EU	Consumer Confidence Indicator (p)
20/04/2023	1415/1015			US	Secretary Yellen on U.S.-China economic relationship
20/04/2023	1430/1030	**		US	Natural Gas Stocks
20/04/2023	1530/1130			CA	BOC Governor testifies at Senate committee
20/04/2023	1530/1630			UK	BOE Tenreyro Panels National Bureau of Economics Research Conf
20/04/2023	1530/1130	*		US	US Bill 08 Week Treasury Auction Result
20/04/2023	1530/1130	**		US	US Bill 04 Week Treasury Auction Result
20/04/2023	1600/1200			US	Fed Governor Christopher Waller
20/04/2023	1620/1220			US	Cleveland Fed's Loretta Mester
20/04/2023	1700/1300	**		US	US Treasury Auction Result for TIPS 5 Year Note
20/04/2023	1900/1500			US	Dallas Fed's Lorie Logan
20/04/2023	1900/1500			US	Fed Governor Michelle Bowman
20/04/2023	2015/2215			EU	ECB Schnabel Lecture at Stanford Graduate School of Business
20/04/2023	2100/1700			US	Atlanta Fed's Raphael Bostic
21/04/2023	2300/0900	***		AU	Judo Bank Flash Australia PMI