{"id":1933886,"date":"2023-05-19T04:55:36","date_gmt":"2023-05-19T08:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/global-debt-soars-to-near-record-305-trillion-in-first-quarter-trade-group\/"},"modified":"2023-05-19T04:59:10","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T08:59:10","slug":"global-debt-soars-to-near-record-305-trillion-in-first-quarter-trade-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/global-debt-soars-to-near-record-305-trillion-in-first-quarter-trade-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Global debt reaches almost $305 trillion in Q1, nearing record levels: Trade group."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fglobal-debt-soars-to-near-record-305-trillion-in-first-quarter-trade-group%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1933886&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Global Debt Levels Soar to Nearly Record High<\/h2>\n<p>The Institute of International Finance (IIF) has reported that global debt levels have risen by $8.3 trillion in the first quarter, reaching $305 trillion, which is almost a record high. The previous record of $306.5 trillion was set in the first quarter of 2022. The IIF&#8217;s latest Global Debt Monitor report shows that debt levels are increasing across the world, from households to governments. Government debt has surged by $2.2 trillion, household debt by $1.1 trillion, financial corporate debt by $2.1 trillion, and nonfinancial corporate debt by $3.1 trillion. These figures are up by more than 17% from before the COVID-19 pandemic, when the total global debt was $260.3 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2019.<\/p>\n<h3>Debt Totals Expected to Continue Rising<\/h3>\n<p>Researchers warn that debt totals will continue to rise, which will have &#8220;significant implications for international debt markets, particularly if interest rates remain higher for longer.&#8221; The IIF stated that &#8220;at close to $305 trillion, global debt is now $45 trillion higher than its pre-pandemic level and is expected to continue increasing rapidly: Despite concerns about a potential credit crunch following the recent turmoil in the banking sectors of the U.S. and Switzerland, government borrowing needs remain elevated.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>Dramatic Increase in Debt Service Costs<\/h3>\n<p>The IIF has also noted the dramatic increase in debt service costs. &#8220;The combination of high debt levels and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/china-to-leapfrog-u-s-as-worlds-biggest-economy-by-2028-think-tank\/\" title=\"China to leapfrog U.S. as world\u2019s biggest economy by 2028 \u2013 think tank\">rising interest rates<\/a> has pushed up debt service costs, prompting concerns about the use of leverage in the financial system,&#8221; the report reads. Since early last year, the Federal Reserve and other central banks have initiated a quantitative tightening cycle, a blend of rate hikes and balance sheet reductions. As a result, the Fed has raised the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-fed-nominee-judy-shelton-says-fed-can-only-kill-the-economy-with-whatever-it-takes-approach\/\" title=\"Former Fed Nominee Judy Shelton Says Fed Can \u201cOnly Kill the Economy\u201d With \u201cWhatever It Takes\u201d Approach\">benchmark fed funds rate<\/a> by 500 basis points to a range of 5\u20135.25%, the highest in about 16 years.<\/p>\n<h3>Growth of Zombie Firms?<\/h3>\n<p>In addition to central banks raising interest rates, banking turmoil in the U.S. and European financial sectors has weighed on credit conditions. Many U.S. reports have suggested that the economy faces a credit crunch, with financial institutions tightening standards and business and consumer loan demand sliding. A combination of higher interest rates and a contraction in credit conditions &#8220;would prompt higher default rates and result in more &#8216;zombie firms,'&#8221; according to the IIF. Zombie firms are generally businesses that maintain operations and service their obligations but can&#8217;t pay off their debts. The IIF estimated that 14% of U.S.-listed firms fall into the zombie category.<\/p>\n<h3>Higher Service Payments for Consumers<\/h3>\n<p>A rising-rate climate has become problematic for both the U.S. government and consumers. According to the Congressional Budget Office, federal interest payments are projected to total $663 billion in fiscal 2023 and then balloon to $745 billion in 2024. Consumers with credit card debt are also facing higher service payments, and the Fed Bank of New York reported that credit card debt surged to $986 billion in the first quarter. WalletHub&#8217;s Fed Rate Hike Survey estimated that the institution&#8217;s rate hikes in the past year would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/global-debt-soars-to-near-record-305-trillion-in-first-quarter-trade-group\/\" title=\"Global debt reaches almost 5 trillion in Q1, nearing record levels: Trade group.\">cost credit card debt holders<\/a> more than $33 billion over the next 12 months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Global debt levels reached $305 trillion in Q1, up by $8.3 trillion, nearing a record high, says the Institute of International Finance. The previous record of $306.5 trillion was set in Q1 2022. The Washington-based association of the financial industry released the data in its latest Global Debt Monitor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":278,"featured_media":1933887,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[27111,5487,5179,3670,4630,16262,27112,5810,4752,7221],"class_list":["post-1933886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-27111","tag-debt","tag-global","tag-group","tag-levels","tag-nearing","tag-q1","tag-reaches","tag-record","tag-trade"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1933886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/278"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1933886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1933886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1933887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1933886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1933886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1933886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}