Beijing - Saba:
Data from the Institute of International Finance (IIF) showed that global debt rose by about $7.5 trillion in the first three months of this year, reaching a record high of more than $324 trillion.
The institute said in its Global Debt Monitor report, according to Reuters, that China, France, and Germany were the largest contributors to the increase in global debt, while debt levels declined in Canada, the UAE, and Turkey.
The Institute explained that the sharp decline in the value of the dollar against the currencies of major trading partners contributed to the increase in the dollar value of debt, but the increase in the first quarter was more than four times the average quarterly increase of $1.7 trillion observed since the end of 2022.
Total debt in emerging markets rose by more than $3.5 trillion in the first quarter, reaching a record high of more than $106 trillion.
According to the Institute of International Finance, China alone contributed more than $2 trillion of this increase. China's government debt-to-GDP ratio stands at 93% and is expected to reach 100% before the end of the year.
Emerging market debt outside China also reached a record high, with Brazil, India, and Poland experiencing the largest increases in the dollar value of their debt. However, the debt-to-GDP ratio for emerging markets excluding China fell to less than 180%, about 15 percentage points below its all-time high.
Emerging markets face a record $7 trillion in bond and loan redemptions in the remaining period. By 2025, the figure for advanced economies is expected to reach about $19 trillion.
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