2025-05-27 04:08

TOKYO, May 27 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said on Tuesday that the government will closely monitor the bond market ahead of the auction of super-long debt this week, warning that higher interest rates could put pressure on state finances. "Rising interest rates could increase interest payments (on government debt) and pressure state finances for policies," Kato said at a press conference. Sign up here. "We'll carry out appropriate government debt management while closely monitoring the market developments and continuing dialogue with investors," he added. Long-dated debt has been sold off around the world in recent weeks, and in Japan, concerns have been exacerbated by a decrease in bond buying by the central bank and political jockeying over stimulus. All eyes will be on the sale of 40-year bonds, Japan's longest tenor, on Wednesday. The Japanese government said on Tuesday that it would use 388 billion yen ($2.72 billion) from a reserve fund to finance an emergency economic package to alleviate any impact on industries and households from new U.S. import tariffs. The package includes support for corporate financing as well as subsidies to lower gasoline prices and partially cover electricity bills. While the government is considering compiling additional stimulus measures ahead of an upper house election in July, a senior lawmaker from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said it agreed with its junior coalition partner Komeito that fresh issuance of deficit-financing bonds should be avoided. Asked about a report that SoftBank Group (9984.T) , opens new tab Chief Executive Masayoshi Son is proposing to establish a Japan-U.S. sovereign wealth fund, Kato said at the news conference that the government, at least at the finance ministry, was not aware of the specifics of such a plan. The Financial Times reported on Sunday that Son was floating the idea of creating a joint sovereign fund to make technology and other investments across the United States. ($1 = 142.3900 yen) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/japan-closely-monitor-bond-market-finance-minister-says-2025-05-27/

2025-05-27 02:52

MUMBAI, May 27 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is expected to open nearly unchanged on Tuesday but traders reckon that the currency will trade with an upward bias in the near term as concerns about U.S. trade and fiscal policies continue to cast a shadow on the greenback. The 1-month non-deliverable forward indicated an open in the 85.07-85.10 range, versus 85.0850 in the previous session. Sign up here. The rupee climbed to a two-week high of 84.79 on Monday but shed some of its gains in the face of dollar bids from a large state-run bank and local oil companies, traders said. Dollar bids from oil companies are likely to persist since crude prices are attractive right now but "upticks (on USD/INR) are likely to get sold into," a trader at a Mumbai-based bank said. On the day, the dollar index was hovering just shy of the 99-handle while Asian currencies were flat to slightly higher. In the near term, the rupee is expected to fluctuate between 84.60 and 85.30, said Dilip Parmar, a foreign exchange research analyst at HDFC Securities. The greenback is on course to log its fifth consecutive monthly decline against major peers and is down nearly 9% in 2025 so far, as appetite for U.S. assets diminished amid a flurry of policy changes. Analysts have also pointed to a pick-up in demand for hedging against U.S. dollar weakness, which has added to the greenback's troubles. "The ongoing changes create the opening for a 'global euro moment," ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Monday, referring to the troubles confronting the dollar. The euro has strengthened nearly 10% this year so far and was last at 1.14. Analysts at DBS Bank also pointed out in a note on Friday that China has adopted "a controlled and targeted approach in May to promote a larger international role for the CNY," as global confidence in the dollar wanes. KEY INDICATORS: ** One-month non-deliverable rupee forward at 85.23; onshore one-month forward premium at 15 paisa ** Dollar index down 0.1% at 98.83 ** Brent crude futures down 0.3% at $64.5 per barrel ** Ten-year U.S. note yield at 4.49% ** As per NSDL data, foreign investors bought a net $69.3 mln worth of Indian shares on May 23 ** NSDL data shows foreign investors sold a net $158.6 mln worth of Indian bonds on May 23 https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rupee-open-nearly-flat-holds-upper-hand-dollar-remains-vulnerable-2025-05-27/

2025-05-27 00:34

TOKYO, May 27 (Reuters) - Japan's net external assets rose to a record 533.1 trillion yen ($3.73 trillion) in 2024, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday, rising for a seventh straight year thanks to a weak yen and strong appetite for overseas corporate acquisitions. However, Japan surrendered its position as the world's top creditor for the first time in 34 years to Germany, which posted 569.7 trillion yen of net external assets as of the end of 2024. China ranked third with 516.3 trillion yen. Sign up here. The value of net external assets, held by the Japanese government, businesses and individuals, increased 60.9 trillion yen, or 12.9%, from a year before. The dollar and euro strengthened against the yen by 11.7% and 5% respectively, boosting the value of existing overseas assets in yen terms, while brisk overseas merger and acquisition activities by Japanese companies also contributed to the growth. Gross external assets stood at 1,659 trillion yen as of the end of last year, up 169 trillion yen from a year earlier, and external debt came to 1,126 trillion yen, up 109 trillion yen. The ministry also released revised current account balance data. For the whole of 2024, Japan logged a current account surplus of 29.4 trillion yen, versus the preliminary 29.3 trillion yen surplus. ($1 = 142.7200 yen) https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/japan-net-external-assets-hit-record-surrenders-worlds-top-creditor-spot-2025-05-27/

2025-05-26 23:32

GHINNI GHINNI, Australia, May 27 (Reuters) - Farmer Mark Kappa was enjoying his first hot drink in three days as he waited patiently for his meal in front of a food truck run by a Sikh charity, after incessant rain in Australia's southeast cut off towns and forced thousands to evacuate their homes. Melbourne-based Sikh Volunteers Australia travelled nearly 1,200 km (746 miles) to the rural town of Taree in New South Wales, one of the worst-hit from last week's floods in Australia's most populous state, to set up their mobile kitchen in the parking area of a hardware store. Sign up here. "They said about 20 minutes or so, I'll tuck in then," Kappa said as the volunteers prepared pasta, rice and vegetarian curry. More than 50,000 people in the Hunter and Mid North coast regions of New South Wales, around 300 km (186 miles) north of Sydney, were isolated last week after fast-rising waters burst river banks, destroyed homes and washed away roads. Five deaths have been linked to the floods. "We've had no power for three days out at the farm. We lost our milk. We lost everything," Kappa said. After serving almost 3,000 fresh meals over the last three days, Sikh Volunteers Australia head Jaswinder Singh said: "In times of disasters, I've seen the spirit of the Australians come even better, closer to each other ... so that's a good thing. That has a very positive impact." Despite the small space available, the charity has been distributing food neatly packed in small boxes. "To be able to know that you can turn up and just get some food is - it's just heart-warming," said Ashari Hudson, who was picking up food for a friend hit by floods. The Sikh volunteers have provided free food since 2017 during several crises, including bush fires and floods. Australia has been hit with increasing extreme weather events that some experts say are the result of climate change. Following droughts and devastating bushfires at the end of last decade, frequent floods have wreaked havoc since early 2021. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/sikh-food-charity-serves-up-free-hot-meals-flood-hit-australians-2025-05-26/

2025-05-26 23:16

RABAT, May 26 (Reuters) - Kenya said on Monday it supports Morocco's plan to give the disputed region of Western Sahara autonomy under the North African kingdom's sovereignty, joining a growing number of African, Arab and Western countries that have tilted towards backing Rabat in the five-decade conflict. The long-frozen conflict, dating back to 1975, pits Morocco, which considers the territory as its own, against the Algeria-backed Polisario front, which seeks an independent state in the desert territory. Sign up here. In a joint statement issued after talks between the two countries' foreign ministers in Rabat, Kenya said it views the Moroccan plan as the only credible and realistic solution and the sole sustainable approach. Kenya, after 60 years of bilateral diplomatic ties with Morocco, also opened an embassy in Rabat on Monday. Morocco, a leading phosphates and fertilizer producer, has agreed to immediately accelerate exports of soil nutrients to Kenya, as the two countries plan to cooperate on renewable energies, tourism, fisheries, security and cultural and religious affairs, the joint statement said. Morocco's foreign minister Nasser Bourita told reporters that Kenya's position on Western Sahara, which he called "the national cause", helped add a new impetus to bilateral relations. Kenya is looking to export more tea, coffee and fresh produce to Morocco to balance its trade, Kenyan foreign minister Musalia Mudavadi said on his X account. Kenya also backed a Moroccan initiative offering landlocked Sahel states access to global trade through Morocco's Atlantic ports, the joint statement said. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/kenya-backs-moroccos-autonomy-plan-western-sahara-joint-statement-says-2025-05-26/

2025-05-26 17:38

EU seeks mutually beneficial trade deal with Washington U.S. demands unilateral concessions to cut goods trade deficit EU Commission says leaders' call has given new impetus to talks BRUSSELS, May 26 (Reuters) - The European Union may have won a reprieve from U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened 50% tariffs, but it remains unclear how the bloc will square its push for a mutually beneficial trade deal with Washington's demands for steep concessions. Trump backed away from imposing the levies on EU imports from June 1 after a call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, restoring a July 9 deadline to allow talks between the U.S. and the 27-nation union to produce a deal. Sign up here. The European Commission, which oversees trade policy for the EU, said the call had added new impetus to the negotiations, which the two presidents had agreed to fast track. There was little indication, however, of what, if any, progress Trump and von der Leyen had made towards clearing a path to a negotiated solution to the trade dispute. The EU is pushing for a mutually beneficial deal that could include both sides moving to zero tariffs on industrial goods, and the EU buying more soybeans, arms and liquefied natural gas as it phases out all Russian gas imports by the end of 2027. One EU official said the EU could even buy more hormone-free beef, as Britain did in a trade deal it struck with the U.S. earlier this month. The European Commission said on Monday it would make a forceful case for its "zero-for-zero" tariff offer, including in a call planned on Monday between European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. "We believe that's a very attractive starting point for a good negotiation that could lead to benefits on both sides of the Atlantic," a Commission spokesperson said. The EU also sees possible cooperation on issues such as steel overcapacity, which both sides blame on China, and digital technology such as AI. The EU wants to see an end to 25% tariffs on steel and cars and for Trump to drop his so-called "reciprocal" tariff, which was provisionally set at 20% for the EU but is being held at 10% during a 90-day pause until July. GOODS DEFICIT FIXATION Washington, however, is intent on reducing its goods trade deficit with the EU, which was almost 200 billion euros ($228 billion) last year, though it does have a sizeable, albeit smaller, trade surplus in services. It has sent Brussels a list of demands, identifying so-called non-tariff barriers it wants addressed, including value-added tax, EU food safety standards and national digital services taxes. An industry source familiar with the negotiations said Trump wanted a quick deal with a mixture of tangible and symbolic wins, but his administration was asking for concessions far beyond what the EU was willing, or even able, to agree on. Taxes, for example, are the competence of individual EU member countries, so the Commission cannot simply negotiate them away. In some areas, Bernd Lange, the chair of the European Parliament's trade committee, who is leading a group of lawmakers to Washington this week, said the U.S. saw trade barriers where none exist. "It's about our standards, our chemicals regulation and our digital regulation," he said before his trip. "These are not non-tariff barriers. This is not on the table of negotiations." The EU could look at specific regulations to see if they might be excessive, he said, but it would not simply adopt all U.S. standards, as the White House appeared to be demanding. The Trump administration has also said it wants manufacturing - particularly for products such as steel, cars, mobile phones and semiconductors - to relocate to the United States. Irish agriculture minister Martin Heydon said on Monday the EU was right to push for a mutually beneficial deal, and Trump's frustration that the EU had not "just rolled over" was almost a compliment for the EU position. "We are one of the most important trading partners for the U.S. So we shouldn't just agree to whatever the demand is from the White House. We should negotiate and explain that mutually beneficial nature of the trade," he said. ($1 = 0.8786 euros) https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/after-reprieve-eu-still-fix-find-trade-deal-satisfy-trump-2025-05-26/