Your Morning Fix

• Foreign holdings of US Treasuries soared to a record high in March, rising for a third straight month, as demand for US government debt remained robust a few months after President Donald Trump took office.
• Moody’s on Friday downgraded the credit rating of the United States by a notch to “Aa1” from “Aaa”, exacerbating investor worries. The credit agency cited rising debt and interest “that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns.”
• The Philippines’ external debt service bill fell 34.9% to USD 1.59 billion as of February 2025 from the same period last year, following a 68.1% decline in principal payments.
• The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. is increasing its capital-raising target this year to PHP 170 billion from PHP 120 billion and from PHP 82.4 billion in actual capital raised last year, amid an easing trade war between the US and China that had caused fears of a global recession.
• Government subsidies extended to government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) rose 54.69% in March to PHP 10.63 billion from March of the previous year.