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Saudi EXIM Bank Signs Two Cooperation Agreements with Japan's SMBC, MUFG Banks

Saudi EXIM Bank Signs Two Cooperation Agreements with Japan's SMBC, MUFG Banks
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Saudi EXIM Bank Signs Two Cooperation Agreements with Japan's SMBC, MUFG Banks

Saudi EXIM Bank Signs Two Cooperation Agreements with Japan's SMBC, MUFG Banks

Saudi EXIM Bank signed two cooperation agreements with SMBC Business Banking and MUFG Bank, fostering cooperation and creating co-financing opportunities to promote non-oil exports in target markets, the Saudi EXIM Bank revealed in statement. This came on the sidelines of the Saudi-Japan Vision 2030 Business Forum in Tokyo.

According to the statement, the two agreements were signed separately by Eng. Saad bin Abdulaziz Al-Khalab, CEO of Saudi EXIM Bank, along with Mr. Akihiro Fukudom, CEO of SMBC Bank and Hironori Kamizawa, CEO of MUFG Bank.
Commenting on the partnerships, Eng. Saad Al-Khalab stated: "This collaboration with Japanese entities is part of our joint efforts to strengthen economic relations between both countries and achieve the Saudi-Japan Vision 2030. The acceleration of commercial projects between our nations toward broader horizons comes as a result of the strength, advanced economic status, and promising investment opportunities."
During the roundtable meeting, which brought together several ministers from both sides, Eng. Saad Al-Khalab reviewed Saudi EXIM Bank's activities with Japanese financial institutions and commercial companies to enhance economic and trade relations and identify projects of mutual interest, SPA reported.
During the financial sector's roundtable meeting, Al-Khalab emphasized the critical importance of collaborative efforts between all financial institutions and business sectors. This is to ensure the provision of comprehensive, incentivizing credit solutions that can accelerate the pace of trade and mutual and global investment activities.
The Saudi EXIM Bank aims to empower the Kingdom's non-oil national economy in accordance with Vision 2030. The bank is focused on enabling Saudi non-oil exports to expand and penetrate global markets by bridging financing gaps and reducing export risks.

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US Borrowing Binge Risks Market Strains

The increase in the deficit has long alarmed fiscal hawks - (File/AFP)
The increase in the deficit has long alarmed fiscal hawks - (File/AFP)
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US Borrowing Binge Risks Market Strains

The increase in the deficit has long alarmed fiscal hawks - (File/AFP)
The increase in the deficit has long alarmed fiscal hawks - (File/AFP)

The US will be forced to fund a massive increase in its budget deficit with short-term debt, analysts have said, with consequences for money markets and the battle against inflation, according to The Financial Times.

The Congressional Budget Office, the independent fiscal watchdog, this week said aid packages for Ukraine and Israel would help push up the US deficit this fiscal year to $1.9tn — compared with its February prediction of $1.5tn. “We are spending money as a country like a drunken sailor on shore for the weekend,” said Ajay Rajadhyaksha, global chair of research at Barclays.

The increase in the deficit has long alarmed fiscal hawks, who warn the US’s lack of discipline will inevitably push up borrowing costs and that neither President Joe Biden nor his Republican challenger Donald Trump have substantive plans to shore up the country’s finances. The more recent shift to short-term financing may also disrupt money markets and complicate the anti-inflation drive of the US Federal Reserve.

Some of the expected increase in the deficit is because of student loan forgiveness, which is not expected to have an immediate effect on cash flows. But Jay Barry, co-head of interest rate strategy at JPMorgan, said the expanded deficit would require the US to issue an additional $150bn of debt in the three months before the fiscal year ends in September.

He added he expected most of the funds to be raised through Treasury bills, short-term debt instruments whose maturity ranges from one day to a year. Such a move would increase the total outstanding stock of Treasury bills — unredeemed short-term US debt — from $5.7tn at the end of 2023 to an all-time high of $6.2tn by the end of this year.

“It is likely that the share of Treasury bills as a share of total debt increases, which opens up the question of who is going to buy them,” said Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo. “This absolutely could strain funding markets.”

The size of the Treasury market has quintupled since the financial crisis, in an indication of how much the US has turned to debt financing over the past 15 years.

As the deficit has risen, the US Treasury has found it increasingly hard to finance via long-term debt without causing an uncomfortable rise in borrowing costs. It has boosted the share of short-term debt it issues — but analysts warned it risks hitting the limits of demand.