Chinese companies’ foreign debt, more than half of it is in U.S. dollars… Chinese businesses’ foreign borrowings increased by $47.7 billion—a 4% rise—to $1.2 trillion in the third quarter of 2016 from the second quarter, official data show. State banks, traditionally big users of external funding to help replenish their capital base, accounted for 38% of the jump.”
January 6 – Wall Street Journal (Saumya Vaishampayan): “China continued to squeeze the global market for the yuan Friday, sending the cost of borrowing the currency in overseas markets soaring to a near-record high. Investors and analysts say the nosebleed rates are likely to continue as China’s central bank battles to keep the country’s currency from weakening too far and fast.
The rate that banks charge each other in Hong Kong’s overnight lending market for the yuan jumped to 61.3% on Friday–the highest in a year and the second-highest level on record. That rate was 38.3% on Thursday, and has remained above 10% since Dec. 30.”
January 4 – Reuters (Dion Rabouin): “Global debt levels rose to more than 325% of the world’s gross domestic product last year as government debt rose sharply, a report from the Institute for International Finance showed…
The IIF’s report found that global debt had risen more than $11 trillion in the first nine months of 2016 to more than $217 trillion.
The report also found that general government debt accounted for nearly half of the total increase. Emerging market debt rose substantially, as government bond and syndicated loan issuance in 2016 grew to almost three times its 2015 level.
China accounted for the lion’s share of the new debt, providing $710 million of the total $855 billion in new issuance during the year, the IIF reported.”
[CNBC] 2016 was a terrible year for stock picking, and 2017 may not get much better
[Reuters] Germany’s Gabriel says EU break-up no longer unthinkable
[Bloomberg] Fed’s Powell Urges Congress to Take Another Look at Volcker Rule
[Reuters] China Dec forex reserves fall less than expected to $3.011 trillion
[Bloomberg] Older Americans Are Retiring in Droves
[Bloomberg] Gabriel Takes Aim at Merkel, Targets SPD-Led Government Majority
[Bloomberg] Turkey Fires 8,000 Civil Servants for Alleged Terror Links
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