Iraq-Türkiye Pipeline Shutdown on Turkish Government Orders

A worker performs checks at Türkiye's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, which is run by state-owned Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS), some 70 km (43.5 miles) from Adana February 19, 2014. (Reuters)
A worker performs checks at Türkiye's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, which is run by state-owned Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS), some 70 km (43.5 miles) from Adana February 19, 2014. (Reuters)
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Iraq-Türkiye Pipeline Shutdown on Turkish Government Orders

A worker performs checks at Türkiye's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, which is run by state-owned Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS), some 70 km (43.5 miles) from Adana February 19, 2014. (Reuters)
A worker performs checks at Türkiye's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, which is run by state-owned Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAS), some 70 km (43.5 miles) from Adana February 19, 2014. (Reuters)

The Kurdistan Pipeline Company has shut the Iraq-Türkiye pipeline at the request of the Turkish government, oil companies in the regions said on Monday.

The news comes after comes after Iraq on Saturday halted crude exports from its northern region after the country won an arbitration case in which it said that Türkiye violated a joint agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to export oil to Ceyhan.

Iraqi Kurdistan-focused oil firm Genel Energy Plc said it expects the shutdown to be temporary and that it continues to produce oil into storage facilities.

Meanwhile, Norway's Middle East-focused oil firm DNO said the KRG instructed it to temporarily halt oil deliveries to the pipeline for export.



Global Debt Marches to Record High, Reaches $318 Trillion

One dollar bills are put in packaging bands during production at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington November 14, 2014. (Reuters)  
One dollar bills are put in packaging bands during production at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington November 14, 2014. (Reuters)  
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Global Debt Marches to Record High, Reaches $318 Trillion

One dollar bills are put in packaging bands during production at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington November 14, 2014. (Reuters)  
One dollar bills are put in packaging bands during production at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington November 14, 2014. (Reuters)  

The global debt-to-GDP ratio rose for the first time since 2020 last year, as the world's debt stock hit a new year-end record of $318 trillion and economic growth slowed, an Institute of International Finance report showed on Tuesday.

The $7 trillion rise in global debt was less than half of the 2023 increase, when expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts sparked a borrowing surge.

The IIF warned, however, that so-called bond vigilantes could punish governments if rising fiscal deficits persist, reported Reuters.

“The increasing scrutiny of fiscal balances — particularly in countries with highly polarized political landscapes — has been a defining feature of recent years,” the IIF said.

Market reactions to fiscal policies in the United Kingdom brought down the short-lived tenure of Prime Minister Liz Truss in 2022, while similar pressures in France ousted Prime Minister Michel Barnier last year.

Debt-to-GDP - an indicator on the ability to repay debt - approached 328%, a 1.5 percentage point increase, as government debt levels of $95 trillion clashed with slowing inflation and economic growth.

The IIF said it expects debt growth to slow this year, amid unprecedented global economic policy uncertainty and still-elevated borrowing costs.

It warned, though, that despite high borrowing costs and economic policy uncertainty, its forecast of a $5 trillion increase in government debt this year could rise due to calls for fiscal stimulus and larger military spending in Europe.

Emerging markets accounted for roughly 65% of global debt growth last year.

This borrowing, along with a record $8.2 trillion in debt which emerging markets need to roll over this year - 10% of it in foreign currency - could strain countries' abilities to weather looming political and economic storms.

“Heightened trade tensions and the Trump administration's decision to freeze US foreign aid, including cuts to USAID, could trigger significant liquidity challenges and curb the ability to roll over and access to FX debt,” the report said.

It added that, “This underscores the increasing importance of domestic revenue mobilization to build resilience against external shocks.”