2025-10-15 17:13

WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. is close to finalizing a trade deal with South Korea, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday, telling reporters that he expected an announcement in the next 10 days. "We are about to finish up with Korea," Bessent told CNBC. "The devil's in the details, but we are ironing out the details." Sign up here. Bessent said U.S. and South Korean officials were meeting this week on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington. Speaking to reporters later on Wednesday, Bessent said he believed disagreements with South Korea over promised investments could be resolved. "I'm sure the differences can be resolved. We are in discussions now, and I would expect something in the next 10 days," Bessent said. Asked if Treasury would support setting up a currency swap facility for South Korea, Bessent said that would be up to the Federal Reserve, but he was surprised it didn't already exist. "If I were Federal Reserve chair, and I'm not, Korea would already have a currency swap facility, as would Singapore." BOTH SIDES KEEN TO GET A DEAL U.S. and South Korean officials are keen to finalize a trade agreement before the end of October, when Seoul will host an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to attend the APEC summit and meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines. Seoul's top policy adviser Kim Yong-beom on Wednesday said the two countries had made "meaningful progress" in negotiations over $350 billion of investments that Seoul had pledged to make in the U.S. in exchange for reduced U.S. trade tariffs. The promise was made in a preliminary trade deal announced in July. In an interview with a YouTube channel, Kim said U.S. negotiators made a new proposal about how South Korea could implement the investment package, but gave no details. President Lee Jae Myung told Reuters last month that South Korea's economy could plunge into crisis rivaling its 1997 meltdown if the government accepted current U.S. demands in the trade talks without safeguards. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bessent-says-us-close-finalizing-trade-deal-with-south-korea-2025-10-15/

2025-10-15 17:12

SAO PAULO, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Brazil's central bank believes that since its latest policy meeting the current level of its benchmark interest rate at 15% is sufficient to bring inflation to target, the bank's monetary policy director said on Wednesday. On the other hand, director Nilton David affirmed the current cycle is full of uncertainties, which prompts the bank to not hurry up policy decisions due to any specific data point or market noise, but take time to be sure about its moves. Sign up here. "At the last Copom meeting, we concluded that, yes, it does look like this level of interest rates should be the one that is going to bring us within target," he said at a Goldman Sachs conference in Washington. "But if there is anything exceptional that we would have to correct (rates) for higher or lower, we will do so." Last month, policymakers kept the Selic rate at 15%, their highest level in almost two decades, signaling a "new stage" of prolonged pause as they hope to bring inflation back to its 3% target. According to David, the decision was a "bold move" from the central bank because policymakers knew it would then require them to maintain rates for longer. He stressed policymakers are still uncomfortable with market inflation expectations, calling them "higher than we would like them to be." The central bank sees the current monetary policy as "firm" and "tight," but David cautioned the restrictive conditions have begun being perceived only very recently, mentioning the persistent strength of the labor market. Latin America's largest economy, which has grown above market expectations in the last few years, has shown signs of moderation, which proves the effects of monetary policy, he added. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-central-bank-director-says-current-interest-rate-should-bring-inflation-2025-10-15/

2025-10-15 17:00

WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday the yen will find its own level if the Bank of Japan follows "proper monetary policy." Bessent made the remarks to reporters when asked whether the yen's recent level was reasonable or a bit too weak. Sign up here. A senior Japanese finance ministry official declined to comment, when asked about Bessent's remarks. In August, Bessent said the BOJ would likely be raising interest rates, as it was behind the curve in dealing with the risk of inflation. The BOJ exited a decade-long, massive stimulus program last year and raised its key interest rate to 0.5% in January. It has kept rates steady since then, with Governor Kazuo Ueda citing the need to scrutinize the impact of U.S. tariffs and slowing global demand. The slow pace of BOJ rate hikes has weakened the yen, pushing up import costs and keeping consumer inflation above the BOJ's 2% target for well over three years. "It's something the BOJ ought to decide," Japanese Finance Minister Katsuhobu Kato said, when asked how the central bank should respond to rising living costs from a weak yen. While the weak yen and rising crude oil prices likely played a part in driving up prices in the past few years, it was hard to judge how yen falls were affecting prices recently, Kato told reporters after a meeting with Bessent on Wednesday, held on the sidelines of the annual IMF meetings in Washington. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bessent-says-yen-will-find-its-own-level-if-bank-japan-follows-proper-policy-2025-10-15/

2025-10-15 16:08

Bessent earlier estimated cost of shutdown at up to $15 billion a day Bessent says shutdown is cutting 'into muscle' of US economy US Treasury chief says deficit was lower in fiscal 2025 Bessent says tech, investment boom is sustainable Washington, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The two-week-old federal government shutdown may cost the U.S. economy as much as $15 billion a week in lost output, a Treasury official said late on Wednesday, correcting an earlier statement from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that put the cost at up to $15 billion per day. Bessent used the incorrect estimate in two separate appearances earlier on Wednesday, while urging Democrats to "be heroes" and side with Republicans to end it. Sign up here. A Treasury official said the cost estimate was based on a report by the White House Council of Economic Advisers , opens new tab. Bessent told a news conference that the shutdown was starting to "cut into muscle" of the U.S. economy. The wave of investment into the U.S. economy, including into artificial intelligence, is sustainable and is only getting started, but the federal government shutdown is increasingly an impediment, Bessent said. "There is pent-up demand, but then President (Donald) Trump has unleashed this boom with his policies," Bessent said at a CNBC event held on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Washington. "The only thing slowing us down here is this government shutdown," Bessent said. He said that incentives in the Republican tax law and Trump's tariffs would keep the investment boom going and fuel continued growth. "I think we can be in a period like the late 1800s when railroads came in, like the 1990s when we got the internet and office tech boom," Bessent said. US DEFICIT HAS SHRUNK, BESSENT SAYS Bessent also said that the U.S. deficit for the 2025 fiscal year ended September 30 was smaller than the $1.833 trillion deficit posted in the prior fiscal year. He did not provide a figure, but said that the deficit-to-GDP ratio could come down to the 3% range in coming years. The Treasury Department has not yet reported the annual deficit figure. The Congressional Budget Office estimated last week , opens new tab that the U.S. fiscal 2025 deficit fell only slightly to $1.817 trillion despite a $118 billion jump in customs revenue from Trump's tariffs. "The deficit-to-GDP, which is the important number, now has a five in front of it," Bessent said at the CNBC event. Asked if he wanted to see a three at the start of the deficit-to-GDP ratio, Bessent said, "Yes, it's still possible." He added that the ratio would come down if the U.S. could "grow more, spend less, and constrain spending." https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-investment-boom-is-sustainable-bessent-says-2025-10-15/

2025-10-15 15:22

Oct 15 (Reuters) - India's central bank does not target any price level on the rupee, governor Sanjay Malhotra reiterated at an International Monetary Fund and World Bank event on Wednesday. The rupee has been in a firm downward trend, weighed by U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies, including tariffs against India, and geopolitical tensions. Sign up here. The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) frequent interventions have kept the rupee from breaching its all-time low of 88.80, last touched on September 30. "We believe in the markets to decide what the level should be... Our effort really is to ensure that there is an orderly movement of the rupee both sides, and any undue or any abnormal volatility is curbed," he said. The RBI intervened heavily in the currency market on Wednesday to shore up the rupee, traders said, mirroring the central bank's moves to defend the local currency in February. Malhotra also said the RBI wants to promote its central bank digital currency (CBDC) over stablecoins or cryptocurrencies. Earlier this month, the RBI launched a retail sandbox for CBDC, allowing fintech firms to build and test solutions as part of the ongoing pilot. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has for several years debated drafting a law to regulate or even ban cryptocurrencies but has not made a final decision. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/india-cenbank-does-not-target-any-specific-rupee-level-governor-says-2025-10-15/

2025-10-15 13:16

Oct 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. deficit-to-gross domestic product ratio has room to come down to the 3% range, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday. "The deficit-to-GDP, which is the important number, now has a five in front of it," Bessent said at a CNBC event held on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Washington, adding that the deficit for the fiscal year that ended on September 30 was smaller than the year before. The Treasury Department has not reported the annual deficit figure yet because of the ongoing federal government shutdown. Sign up here. Asked if he wanted to see a three at the start of the deficit-to-GDP ratio, Bessent said, "Yes, it's still possible." https://www.reuters.com/world/us-deficit-to-gdp-ratio-has-room-come-down-bessent-says-2025-10-15/