2025-09-25 16:20

Global debt hit record high of $337.7 trillion at end of Q2 China, France, US, Germany, UK and Japan record largest increases in debt levels in USD terms - IIF EM debt increases by $3.4 trillion LONDON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Global debt hit a record high of $337.7 trillion at the end of the second quarter, driven by easing global financial conditions, a softer U.S. dollar and a more accommodative stance from major central banks, a quarterly report showed on Thursday. The Institute of International Finance, a financial services trade group, said that global debt rose over $21 trillion in the first half of the year to $337.7 trillion. Sign up here. China, France, the United States, Germany, Britain, and Japan recorded the largest increases in debt levels in U.S. dollar terms, though some of that was due to a waning dollar, the IIF found. The U.S. currency has weakened 9.75% since the start of the year against a basket of major trading partners. GLOBAL DEBT SURGE COMPARABLE TO COVID-ERA INCREASE "The scale of this increase was comparable to the surge seen in H2 2020, when pandemic-related policy responses drove an unprecedented buildup in global debt," the IIF said in its Global Debt Monitor. Looking at debt-to-GDP ratios - an indicator of the ability to repay debt by comparing to what is being produced - Canada, China, Saudi Arabia and Poland saw the sharpest increases. The ratio declined in Ireland, Japan, and Norway, the report found. Overall, the global debt-to-output ratio continued to move slowly lower, standing just above 324%. However, in emerging markets the ratio hit 242.4% - a new record after a downward revision on the last report in May. Total debt in emerging markets rose by $3.4 trillion in the second quarter to a record high of more than $109 trillion. Emre Tiftik, IIF Sustainable Research Director, said in a webinar that rising military spending will strain government balance sheets amid intensifying geopolitical tensions. Tiftik noted that the debt increase is mainly in government debt, which has risen sharply in G7 countries and China. He added that bond market reactions are harsher in advanced economies, with G7 10-year yields near their highest since 2011. BOND MARKET PRESSURES Emerging markets face a record high of nearly $3.2 trillion in bond and loan redemptions in the remainder of 2025, the IIF said. It warned that fiscal strains could intensify in countries such as Japan, Germany, and France, urging caution over so-called "bond vigilantes" - referring to investors who sell off bonds of countries whose finances they deem unsustainable. "While government debt ratios rose sharply across emerging markets in H1 — most notably in Chile and China — market reaction has been stronger in mature markets this year," the IIF said. The report flagged U.S. debt concerns, noting that short-term borrowing makes up about 20% of total debt and 80% of Treasury issuance. It warned that this reliance could increase political pressure on central banks to keep rates low, risking monetary policy independence. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-debt-hits-record-nearly-338-trillion-says-iif-2025-09-25/

2025-09-25 16:16

BUENOS AIRES, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Argentina has reimplemented export taxes , opens new tab on grains and their by-products after temporarily suspending them for two days as it has hit a target sales cap of $7 billion, Argentina's ARCA fiscal agency said on Wednesday in a post on social media. On Monday, the government issued a decree suspending export taxes on soy, corn, wheat and their by-products, including biodiesel, aiming to accelerate sales abroad and secure much-needed dollars to stabilize the flagging peso currency. Sign up here. Argentina, one of the world's top grains suppliers, relies on the agricultural sector to generate foreign currency. The suspension was set to last through the end of October, or until declared exports reached $7 billion. Exports reached the sales limit after two days. A tax suspension on beef and poultry products, also launched earlier this week, will continue through the end of October, without a sales cap, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said on Thursday. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/argentina-reapplies-export-taxes-grains-by-products-2025-09-25/

2025-09-25 15:35

Sept 25 (Reuters) - Philips (PHG.AS) , opens new tab is actively engaged with policymakers in Washington about investigations into U.S. imports of medical technology items but does not expect an immediate impact from the probes, it said on Thursday. The U.S. Department of Commerce said on Wednesday it had opened new national security investigations into the import of personal protective equipment, medical items, robotics and industrial machinery. Sign up here. The so-called Section 232 investigations, which were opened on September 2 but not publicly disclosed previously, could be used as a basis for higher import tariffs on a wide swath of medical and industrial goods. That could mean increased levies on imported face masks, syringes and infusion pumps as well as robotics and industrial machinery like programmable computer-controlled mechanical systems and industrial stamping and pressing machines. "At this stage, details are limited, and a range of potential outcomes remain under discussion," Philips told Reuters in an emailed statement. Shares in the Dutch healthcare technology company were down almost 3% at around 0845 GMT, and those of its European med-tech peers Siemens Healthineers , Coloplast (COLOb.CO) , opens new tab, Sonova (SOON.S) , opens new tab, Demant (DEMANT.CO) , opens new tab, GN Store Nord (GN.CO) , opens new tab, Smith+Nephew (SN.L) , opens new tab fell between 1% and 4%. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/philips-talks-with-us-over-probes-medical-technology-imports-2025-09-25/

2025-09-25 14:33

MEXICO CITY, Sept 25 (Reuters) - U.S. tech firm CloudHQ will invest $4.8 billion in a project to build six data centers in Mexico's central Queretaro state over the coming years, a company executive said on Thursday, adding these would be used to fuel cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Speaking at a press conference with top government officials, Chief Operating Officer Keith Harney said CloudHQ was seeking a long-term tenant lease before it proceeds with the construction of the site. Sign up here. These would be fueled by a 900-megawatt private substation, he said. "Starting up investments in data centers is important for Mexico," added President Claudia Sheinbaum. "It brings the country the capacity to process data related to artificial intelligence and information technology." "We also need these investments to bring benefits for the community," she added. Data centers store the increasingly vast amounts of digital information kept and processed on the internet, but they require large amounts of constant power supply and cooling systems to stop their computer systems from overheating. Harney said the data centers would use a waterless cooling system, and Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the facility's water consumption would be "very low." Queretaro, like many parts of central and northern Mexico, has faced years of water stress as industrial projects and agriculture weigh on the area's groundwater systems while climate change makes rainfall and temperature less predictable. Regarding energy, Harney said the project was aiming to use clean energy, but since the data centers would demand large amounts of constant power this would not be used exclusively. The site is expected to be ready by 2027, when it should provide 900 permanent jobs at the site, he said. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/cloudhq-invest-48-billion-build-mexico-data-centers-2025-09-25/

2025-09-25 13:28

SAO PAULO, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Inflation in Brazil sped up in the month to mid-September after briefly dipping into negative territory a month earlier, though it still undershot market expectations, data from statistics agency IBGE showed on Thursday. The figures come as Brazil's central bank signaled it was entering a "new stage" of steady interest rates for a prolonged period, following an aggressive monetary tightening aimed at curbing sticky inflation. Sign up here. Consumer prices as measured by the IPCA-15 index rose 0.48% in the period, IBGE said, up from a 0.14% decline last month. The reading, nonetheless, came in below the 0.51% increase forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. In the 12 months to mid-September, inflation reached 5.32%, below the 5.36% expected in the Reuters poll but still far above the central bank's 3% target, which has a tolerance range of 1.5 percentage points on either side. Brazil's central bank last week kept interest rates at a near two-decade high of 15%, signaling a prolonged pause after a tightening cycle that lifted borrowing costs by a total 450 basis points since September 2024. The bank expects inflation to hover near the official goal in the first quarter of 2028, but still fail to meet it. Prices in the month to mid-September rose in five of the nine groups surveyed by IBGE. Housing prices jumped 3.31% after a 1.13% drop in the previous month, driven by higher electricity costs. But closely-watched food and beverage prices, which pushed overall inflation higher earlier in the year, fell 0.35% in the period, marking their fourth consecutive monthly decline. "The overall picture looks benign. The recent rebound in inflation is largely explained by adverse base effects," said Andres Abadia, chief Latin America economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. "Our base case is for disinflation to continue, with inflation ending the year around 5%." https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-mid-september-inflation-rebounds-higher-housing-prices-2025-09-25/

2025-09-25 12:57

WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett on Thursday said the U.S. has made enormous progress on trade talks with China in the last few months but considerable work remains. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are discussing a range of things including Chinese purchases of Russia's oil exports, Hassett said in an interview with Fox Business Network. Washington has highlighted China and India as contributors to the Russia-Ukraine war due to their purchases of oil from Moscow. Sign up here. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are talking to their counterparts practically every day. "I feel like compared to a few months ago, we've made an enormous amount of progress," Hassett said. Hassett said there were many items on the table in trade negotiations, adding that "we care very much about the fact that China has stopped buying our agricultural products." "We're in a productive negotiation and looking forward to making a lot of progress between now and say, Thanksgiving," he told "Mornings with Maria." https://www.reuters.com/sports/trump-visit-yankees-stadium-new-york-thursday-white-house-says-2025-09-09/